Austria - North Macedonia Prediction, Picks and Tips
Showdown in the European Championship qualification! Four weeks ago, the first teams won the ticket for the European Football Championship next year. These days the field will be filled up. In Group G of qualifying, Robert Lewandowski & Co secured their European title in October with a 2-0 home win against Northern Macedonia. On Saturday night, North Macedonia might have to watch again, as the opponent cheers. In Vienna there is a duel between Austria and North Macedonia! The Austrian national football team has caught up after the horror start (two defeats) and presented itself last in a bear strong condition. Already with a point win against North Macedonia, the team of Franco Foda is no longer to take the European Championship ticket. Overall, it would be the third European Championship participation for the ÖFB team. There are hardly any doubts - neither in the Austrian population nor in the bookmakers. Rather, the bookmakers expect a home win of the ÖFB protégés. The start of the match at the Ernst Happel Stadium is on Saturday at 19:45.
Already in times of Marcel Koller was the commercial of Tipp3 - Austria is a country with eight million team bosses - a real hit. The fans in Austria are actually fast euphoric and dream of big successes. However, even after a short time a lot of black can be painted and then almost everything is questioned. Franco Foda was heavily criticized after only two qualifiers - defeats to Poland and Israel. The team stood with their backs to the wall and knew early on, that any further Umfaller could burst the dream of the third qualification. In the last six qualifiers, there was no such a slip-up for Austria - only in the game away from Poland, the red-white-red Elf had to settle for a brilliant first half with a goalless draw. The five remaining games were all made victorious. However, it must also be stated that the results obscure a little bit over the performance in phases. In the run-up to the European Championship 2016 in France, Austria certainly played a more attractive football - the great euphoria came not by chance. The games of the Foda-Elf are not necessarily attractive or spectacular - but the success proves the team right. After all, the purpose justifies the means and with the initial situation that Austria only needs a counter from the games against North Macedonia and Latvia, any criticism is whining on a high level. However, Foda does not want to know about premature euphoria and places its team in the spotlight, as the current FIFA World No. 25 ranking list will only prevail if the team is highly concentrated right from the start. Foda remained calm even in setbacks and has given the team confidence in themselves. The development is very positive and considering these circumstances is between Austria and North Macedonia, the forecast on the required point gain is not a risky matter. Personnel Franco Foda will have to rotate again in goal. Meanwhile Heinz Lindner has another club (Wehen-Wiesbaden), but is injured. Salzburg goalkeeper Cican Stankovic is also out of injury due to injury - so the race for the number one position is once again open. Youngster Alexander Schlager (LASK Linz) probably has the best chance. Otherwise, Foda can almost draw on the full. Alaba, Arnautovic, Hinteregger, Sabitzer, Lazaro, Laimer and Lainer - Austria has a lot to offer in terms of both top quality and width.
Northern Macedonia was only drawn from Pot Five in the draw. The team of head coach Igor Angelovski could not really calculate realistic chances of one of the first two places. However, at least the current qualification has shown that the team has the potential to annoy supposedly stronger teams thoroughly. The current FIFA World Cup number 92 is a very unpleasant opponent and has already recorded eleven credits on the credit side. The chance to reach the second place in the group G is theoretically still there, but by no means realistic. Nevertheless, the Balkan state may dream of the first European Championship participation in the history of the association. This makes possible the UEFA Nations League, because in the lowest league - the Group D - North Macedonia prevailed in the fall of 2018 against Armenia, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein. In the spring, there will be a final tournament for North Macedonia in which an EM ticket will be awarded. The two-million-inhabitant country now has some well-known legionnaires. Captain and national hero Goran Pandev (meanwhile 36 years old, 107 caps, 34 goals) is known to many football fans. But next to Pandev, players like Eljif Elmas (20 years, SSC Naples), Enis Bardhi (24 years, UD Levante) or Stole Dimitrievski (25 years, Rayo Vallecano) have promising young players. The recent successes are no coincidence - the team certainly has much more quality than the current ranking in the FIFA World Ranking suggests. In the 0-2 defeat in Poland Lewandowski & Co had to shake, because especially at the beginning of the game the underdog was leading the way. Confidence should not be lacking in Macedonia and considering the good form, at least one away goal is to be expected. To that end, Austria and Moldova would be a tip to passable odds on hits of both teams.
Our recommendation tip for Austria - North Macedonia : Over 2,5 goals @ 1.58