Admira Wacker v LASK

Admira Wacker are on a three-match unbeaten streak in the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time since September, having followed up a home victory against Ried with successive away draws against WSG Tirol and Altach. Opponents LASK were taking on the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the not-so-distant past, but they have fallen from grace this season and were displaced as leaders of the Qualification Group last weekend by local rivals Ried, who beat them 2-0 in the Upper Austrian derby.

The Lower Austrians will be missing the suspended Lukas Malicsek, while the trio of defender Luan, midfielder Onurhan Babuscu and forward Marlon Mustapha have missed several matches and have question marks hanging over them. The Linzers will be without the defensive duo of Filip Twardzik and Yannis Letard, who will miss out through injury and suspension respectively, but fellow centre-back Petar Filipovic made his long-awaited return from the bench in the derby and is a hugely important player for Andi Wieland’s side.

While the form charts point towards this being a relatively even match-up, the history books suggest otherwise. LASK have won 10 Bundesliga games in a row against Admira and have lost on only one of their last 16 league visits to the BSFZ-Arena. Every run ends someday, but we’d back the visitors to take the three points and keep up the pressure on regional rivals Ried in the race for top spot in the bottom six.   

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WSG Tirol v Altach

The latest battle between the Bundesliga’s two westernmost clubs will arguably have more riding on it than any previous meeting, with bottom-of-the-table Altach (11 points) knowing they could move off bottom spot for the first time since Matchday 14 with a victory away to relegation rivals WSG (15 points).

There are a couple of factors that suggest they can do it. The Vorarlbergers seem to have finally found their form – they have amassed as many points in the last three games (five) as they took from their previous 15 matches. And they have no new injuries or suspensions to contend with, while their Tyrolean hosts will have important defender Fabian Koch serving a one-match ban and key creative duo Giacomo Vrioni and Jan Rogelj needing to tread carefully as they are only one booking away from suspension.

However, it is WSG who have fared better in recent meetings between the teams, dropping only two points in their last four clashes with Altach. With that in mind, we think the wiser bet would be to back under 2.5 goals. This is, after all, a meeting between two of the lowest-scoring teams in the division: Altach have only scored 14 times all season and WSG have mustered just one goal in their last three games.

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Ried v Hartberg

While Ried are flying high after beating LASK in the Upper Austrian derby at the weekend and usurping their local rivals at the top of the Qualification Group – the winner of which will qualify for the internal play-off and compete for a European spot this summer – the mood is very different over at Hartberg: the tiny Styrian club are spiraling at an alarming rate, with no league wins since November and no goals across their last six matches – a drought that is now rapidly approaching 600 minutes.

What’s more, Ried have never lost against Hartberg in the Austrian top flight: they have three wins and three draws to their name and a 100% home record against the village club.  The visitors are missing a key player as well: central midfielder Jürgen Heil, who has played all but one league match and contributed eight goals this season, is suspended after accumulating a fifth yellow card last time out. For their part, the hosts are still missing right-back Matthias Gragger and defensive midfielder Marcel Ziegl.

Based on recent form and the head-to-head record, there are excellent odds on a Ried win: they are listed at 2.1 to take the three points. We expect them to do just that – and push Hartberg, perennial overachievers in their four top-flight seasons to date, deeper into the relegation mire.

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Austria Klagenfurt v RB Salzburg

On the face of it, this meeting between the promoted side bottom of the top six and the perennial champions running away with a ninth consecutive title might seem like a foregone conclusion. But let’s not forget that the Red Bulls have suffered only one defeat in the Bundesliga all season – and it came in this exact fixture back in November, when Austria Klagenfurt ran out surprise 2-1 winners.

That said, the two teams are on markedly different trajectories. So solid throughout the regular season, Peter Pacult’s men have struggled to replicate the form that saw them book their spot in the Championship Round and have taken only one point from their three games since the split – in a 1-1 draw with Austria Vienna last time out. Matthias Jaissle’s young guns, meanwhile, have dropped only two points in their last nine games and claimed a sensational last-minute winner to beat Rapid Vienna 2-1 in the ‘Klassiker’ on Sunday.

What’s more, Austria Klagenfurt have lost six players to injury since the start of the month – including impressive Bayern Munich loanee Alex Timossi Andersson, who has an ankle problem, and experienced central defender Nicolas Wimmer, who has a knee injury. With no new injuries or suspensions over at Salzburg, they are undoubtedly heavy favourites. We’re backing the Red Bulls to win and score over 2.5 goals in the process.

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Rapid Vienna v Wolfsberger

Both Rapid and Wolfsberg will be looking to continue their push for the European spots and atone for disappointing defeats in the last round of fixtures: but while the Green & Whites produced a performance to be proud of and came agonisingly close to taking points off the champions, who only won courtesy of a heart-breaking last-minute goal, the Wolves slipped to a clear defeat – their fourth on the bounce if you include their shootout elimination in the cup – to second-placed Sturm Graz.

While Rapid’s lengthy list of long-term injury absentees – which includes young starlet Yusuf Demir, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Barcelona – has not grown since the Salzburg game, they will be without the suspended Marco Grüll, who has notched seven goals and six assists in an impressive debut season with the Hütteldorf outfit. Wolfsberg have a much shorter injury list but it does include the names of key midfielder Eliel Peretz and forward Thorsten Röcher, who are doubts for the weekend and would be big losses.  

The Carinthians have tended to be something of a bogey team for the record champions in recent years, though that is usually on home turf at the Lavanttal Arena. A win in the capital seems unlikely – especially in view of recent form. That’s why we’d recommend backing Rapid on a draw no bet for this one.

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Sturm Graz v Austria Vienna

Results in the last round saw second-placed Sturm Graz, who have only been beaten by runaway leaders Salzburg in the Bundesliga since the beginning of December, build-up a three-point cushion over third-placed Austria Vienna, who themselves are on a seven-game undefeated streak. The Grazers will now head into this meeting between two-tradition-steeped Austrian clubs knowing that three points on Sunday will put clear daylight between themselves and the Violets in the race for second place behind the Red Bulls.

Sturm Graz – for whom Danish striker Rasmus Højlund has been a sensation since his winter arrival from FC Copenhagen, scoring five goals in seven appearances – will be more or less at full-strength, with only a few long-term absentees still in the treatment room. Austria Vienna do not have any new injuries to worry about either, although they are still waiting for four players – among them Georg Teigl, whose life was saved after he almost swallowed his tongue on the pitch at the end of February – to return to the fold.

Of all the fixtures in this round, this one is by far and away the toughest to call. Either side could very well win, while a draw seems like the likeliest result. Rather than pick an outcome, we’re going to back at least 2.5 goals being scored – which has been the case in each of the last four Bundesliga meetings between the sides.

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