The Styrian derby returns on Saturday as second-from-bottom Hartberg host second-placed Sturm Graz at the Profertil Arena.

Hartberg benefitted handsomely from “new manager bounce” as Markus Schopp’s team claimed a crucial 1-0 win over Ried last time out, and with a high quality coach like Schopp at the helm they should now have a great chance to head upwards in the table. New number one keeper Raphael Sallinger has been a revelation with three clean sheets in five games, and he made several fine stops to hold onto the three points last weekend. The issues for Hartberg right now are in front of goal; they’ve found the net just 13 times from open play this season, and creating chances for top scorer Dario Tadic (5) has proven hard to do.

Sturm Graz are riding high after a great start to 2023, but their success has been based off the back of a very strong defence. They’re missing creative players Albian Ajeti, Jakob Jantscher and William Böving with various knocks, but the biggest loss will be Gregory Wüthrich at the back. However, Sturm’s depth should see the back line which has conceded just 11 goals this season remain fairly strong, ahead of Arsenal loanee Arthur Okonkwo in goal. The versatility up front has seen Sturm record a mighty 18 goal scorers already in the campaign, but without an out and out leading man, they tend to win by slender margins.

In recent years, Hartberg have given Sturm a much tougher time than the league table would suggest, and Saturday’s derby will be another tricky one to navigate. We can see Sturm coming through in a close encounter, but all signs suggest it will be anything but a free-scoring fixture.

It’s yet another derby fixture in the Bundesliga this weekend, as the two entertaining Carinthian teams in Austria’s top division go head to head.

Klagenfurt have enjoyed an excellent season on the whole, but boss Peter Pacult will be concerned with a poor run which has seen them slide outside of the top six. With just one point from their last four, it’s been a real slump either side of the winter break, however they’ve still managed five goals across those four games. There are reasons to believe that this weekend could get them back in the groove against struggling WAC though; in Markus Pink they have the league’s top scorer (12), and their record of 11 goals from set-pieces this season means they constantly carry a threat even when not playing particularly well. Andy Irving and Sinan Karweina have created shots for themselves and others, and as a team they’ve had no problem finding the back of the net.

Wolfsberg are in ninth having almost flatlined with six defeats in their last seven in the league, but they’ve somehow scored in every single round of the season so far. Like their opponents they are in urgent need of three points to stay in touch with the top six, and rather than relying on their shaky looking keeper and flimsy defence, they’ll be trying to get the ball to their forwards. Tai Baribo and Maurice Malone still look sharp when in on goal, and Thorsten Röcher’s contribution of four goals and five assists has also proven extremely useful along with the creative outlet Adis Jasic. The only missing piece for WAC at the moment is getting points on the board, as a season of steep highs and lows continues.

Both teams have scored in all five of the Bundesliga meetings between these sides, with the most recent results being a 4-3 win for Klagenfurt and a 3-2 win for WAC. With each team possessing in-form forwards, a leaky defence and a keen need for points, both teams to score looks like the best bet.

With excellent acoustics and stands right on top of the pitch, the home ground of Ried is one of our favourite places to watch football in Austria – and the atmosphere will be even spicier this weekend when LASK come to town for the latest edition of the fiercely contested Upper Austrian derby. Ried are in desperate need of points, having fallen to the foot of the table following defeat to Hartberg in a relegation six-pointer last time out, while LASK are third and well placed to secure a European berth come the end of the season.

In addition to the duo of midfielder Nikola Stosic and centre-forward Robin Ungerath, who have both been sidelined with knee problems for months, Ried boss Christian Heinle is without regular goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger and defensive midfielder Marcel Ziegl. LASK coach Didi Kühbauer has three players out with ruptured cruciate ligaments – defenders Yannis Letard and Jan Boller, plus forward Tobias Anselm – while defensive midfielder Branko Jovicic must serve a one-match suspension.

The form book frequently goes out the window on derby day and that would be a welcome development for Ried, who have lost six of their last 10 Bundesliga matches. The outcome of match-ups between these regional rivals can be tough to predict but their clashes in recent seasons have tended to be cagey and low-scoring affairs, with a maximum of two goals per match in the last five derbies. That makes a bet on under 2.5 goals a solid prospect to us.

Zulte-Waregem find themselves four points adrift of safety. They are in the middle of a crucial run of three games against their relegation rivals, but their first game, against Oostende, resulted in the points shared after a 1-1 draw. They simply must take all three points here to claw themselves back towards safety, not least with next weekend’s derby against Kortrijk is looming ominously on the horizon.

Last time out Z-W started convincingly and scored early, but nervousness crept in as the game went on, especially once Vormer was forced off injured. He is out for six weeks, a serious loss for a side desperately short of the leadership qualities the Dutch midfielder had been providing.

Despite no side having a strike partnership with more Pro League goals than Vossen and Gano, the team often struggles to provide the service they need to burnish their goalscoring records. It also seems likely that the wingers, Fadera and Ciranni, will be heavily involved, as keeping the ball wide and away from the worst areas of Seraing’s poor quality playing surface is a concern away sides must always be conscious of.

Seraing meanwhile have been rock bottom of the standings all season long. They have some skilful players, but the level is just too low overall. They do have a much better home record than you may expect from their lowly league position, often taking unexpected points off teams that get complacent. They took four points from their last three home games, whilst simultaneously losing all three on the road, conceding 10 goals.

They will sit in a low block and prevent their opponents from getting any easy chances. Standard and Anderlecht dealt with this efficiently and were able to convert their only major chances into a goal. Besides that, however, they had much trouble breaking through the Seraing rear-guard. Zulte-Waregem are a worse side all around than either of those two, and should similarly struggle here.

The tension that comes with a relegation dogfight often leads to low-scoring, risk-averse football games, and there is little reason to suspect that this will not be the same. There will be plenty of effort or commitment, but likely little in the way of goal threat.

Remarkably, Groningen’s last victory came in late October. Since then, they have changed manager from the experienced Frank Wormuth to the inexperienced Dennis van der Ree and their results become even worse — they were even knocked out of the cup to amateur opposition.

Under van der Ree, they have even lost to their direct relegation rivals Cambuur and Volendam, and now they face Emmen in a derby.

In the January transfer market, Groningen added a number of players including former Feyenoord forward Elvia Manu and Norwegian midfielder Johan Hove. In the last few weeks, they also appointed an experienced assistant coach to work alongside van der Ree in Gert Peter de Gunst.

Despite Groningen’s incomings, I still expect this to be a scrappy affair. I do think that Groningen are destined to finish in the bottom three; their signings will need time to gel over the long term and there are only four sides who now look to realistically be involved in the scrap to stay up.

As for Emmen, they may get some points at home in the coming months, but away they really struggle for goals too. This game looks like it will be far from a classic, and the scoreline should reflect that.