Austria vs Hungary
There are just the two matches in Euro2016 on Tuesday as the first set of games draw to a conclusion with the opening fixtures in Group F of the tournament. This group looked the most open one of the six going into the competition and it will be interesting to see if that is how it pans out.
The first game sees Austria taking on Hungary in Bordeaux and with Portugal lurking in the group for a later day neither will want to lose this opening match. That’s not the only reason for not losing. These two sides are neighbours and both will be eager to avoid defeat to local rivals.
Austria’s qualification for this match was almost a perfect one with nine wins and a draw from the ten matches and they head into this tournament as genuine contenders for the title if they can keep that form up or even improve on it.
Austria have some real quality in their squad these days headed by the Bayern Munich star David Alaba. He isn’t the only one playing in one of the top leagues though. Marko Arnautovic has been a big feature for Stoke this season and could be one set for a big tournament here too while Premier League champion Christian Fuchs must be on a high still.
Key Man
Marc Janko has scored goals at this level for a while and if Austria are to win this match then you would think he would provide a real threat here. He has good service provided to him so he is the one the side will look up to for the goals to kick start their tournament into life.
Hungary have qualified for this tournament for the first time since 1972 having come through a playoff to make it here. They came past Norway to reach the finals but on paper at least they look like one of the weakest sides there. That gives them plenty to prove going into the tournament.
Goals would appear likely to be the main problem and it might be that their tactics are to play for three draws in the tournament in the hope that it is enough to send them through. I’m not convinced they’ll get one of them let alone all three.
Key Man
Former Fulham midfielder Zoltan Gera is still in action for this Hungary side and if anyone is going to pull strings and open up defences in this tournament it is going to be him. We have to use that term casually as all things are relative where Hungary are concerned.
Team News
There was a doubt over whether Gyorgy Garics would be available against the country of his birth after his father died last week but he has chosen to remain with the squad so Austria are set to be at full strength.
Quite amazingly former Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly is not only still playing football but he is also still playing internationally too and he is set to become the oldest player ever to feature in the finals. Former Liverpool player Krisztian Nemeth could be forced to miss out through injury.
Head to Head
As you would expect with the proximity to each other these two are no strangers. They have met on no less than 135 occasions with Austria winning 40 times and Hungary winning on 65 occasions. There have also been 30 draws.
Austria have only won one of the last six meetings between the two although on paper at least they look head and shoulders the better side going into this match.
Betting
When I looked at the odds for this match I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw we could get Austria at 4/5. I am slightly cautious in that they won’t have been favourites at tournament level too often in the past, if at all.
They will have been favourites quite a bit in qualifying though and that didn’t stop them from winning matches so while I’m reluctant to believe in a gift horse in tournament play if anything ever came close to being one then it is Austria here.
I make Hungary the worst side in this competition. They have a 40 year old in goal, a weak looking defence and seemingly little up front and while they should be given credit for something through qualifying I think they are going to quickly find out that they are out of their depth.
I thought we were going to have to get a little funky for a bet in this match but the 4/5 on Austria winning is perfectly acceptable on a side who I expect to not only win this game but to go on and have a very good tournament.
Tips
Back Austria to beat Hungary for a 5/10 stake at 1.80 with Ladbrokes
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