Austria – Norway

The Austrian national team will be closer to victory in the match against their main group rival

The last round of the Nations League was triumphant for the Norwegian team. The team hosted a strong Slovenia at home and managed to successfully play from a position of strength. The victory allowed the Scandinavian team to top the standings of the third group of League B with good prospects for the final first place and, as a consequence, promotion to the elite division. However, in order to do so, they need to beat their second rival in the group - Austria. The advantage of this team in the upcoming round will be the opportunity to play the second consecutive game at home. In the current draw of the Nations League, the Austrians will play the Norwegians for the second time. The first match took place in September in Oslo and was equal not only in terms of play, but also in many statistical indicators. However, the decisive factor in Norway's favour was the presence of Holand, who scored the decisive goal in the 80th minute. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as the favourites for the upcoming game, offering odds of 2.05 on their victory. Austria played in the Nations League last season in the A-League in the company of Croatia, France and Denmark. Having managed to win just one game, the team safely returned to the level that looks more logical for it - in League B. In the first round of the current Nations League, the Austrians played Slovenia on equal terms and parted with it in peace with a score of 1:1, then lost the second match to Norway - 1:2. In the last round Rangnick's wards overcame the resistance of Kazakhstan (4:0) quite easily, which will allow them to go into the match with their rival in a good mood. In the last Nations League, Norway narrowly missed out on qualifying for the A-League, but finished second in the group behind Serbia. In the current edition of the tournament, the Norwegians have picked up seven points out of a possible nine. First, the Scandinavian team lost in Kazakhstan (0-0), then beat Austria in Oslo and in the third round defeated Slovenia 3-0 at home. The match in Austria is unlikely to be as easy for the visitors as the home game against the Balkan team. The Norwegian team has its own clear "ceiling" of the game, so the maximum it can count on in Linz is a draw. Let's bet on an Austrian victory with the handicap.