Israel vs Austria

Israel and Austria are set to trade tackles at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in a crunch 2022 World Cup qualifying Group F meeting.

Despite a sluggish two-game start to their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign (D1, L1), Israel’s hopes of reaching their first tournament finals since 1970 have received a massive boost in the shape of back-to-back wins over Moldova and the Faroe Islands. The Israelians scored precisely four goals in each Group F victory as they take the field level on points with third-placed Austria thanks to a superior goal difference. Though the ‘Blues and Whites’ lag one win behind in the overall competitive H2H stakes (W2, D3, L3), they can draw confidence from beating this opposition 4-2 in their most recent home qualifying H2H back in March 2019. An inconsistent home form could throw a spanner in the works, with none of Israel’s last 11 competitive internationals on home soil seeing identical back-to-back outcomes (W4, D4, L3).

On the other hand, none of Austria’s last three World Cup qualifiers have ended level (W2, L1) since a 2-2 draw away against Scotland in their Group F curtain-raiser. Curiously, each of Austria’s three games won/lost in the ongoing qualifying cycle saw the winner on the day keep a second-half clean sheet and prevail by at least a two-goal margin. Seeking their first World Cup finals appearance since 1998, the Austrians have experienced mixed fortunes across their last three internationals held on foreign soil (W1, D1, L1) despite breaking the deadlock twice in the sequence. Indeed, Franco Foda’s men have conceded the opening goal in just three of their previous nine competitive travels (W6, D2, L1), excluding their recent participation at Euro 2020. Topically, each of their last three competitive away wins have been accompanied by a clean sheet.