This match is only relevant for Austria as it is now impossible for Georgia to qualify for next year’s World Cup following their draw against Republic of Ireland at the weekend.
Although they are in a better position than Georgia, Austria still face an uphill battle to qualify for Russia 2018. They are now five points off the playoff place and a further two behind the automatic qualification spot. Unfortunately, Marcel Koller’s side have gone on a bad run of form at the worst possible time with just one win in their last six competitive outings.
The Austrians have really struggled in the final third in recent matches and have only scored over 1.5 goals in one of their last six outings (including friendlies). There have been a few problems at the back – no clean sheet in their last three games – however, it is worth noting that they have not conceded more than one goal in any of those aforementioned six outings.
Historically, Austria has been a difficult place to travel to for opposition sides. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have lost just one competitive match on home soil since June 2011, keeping nine clean sheets in that time.
Georgia have had a disastrous qualification campaign so far and are yet to win a game. It is no wonder they have been eliminated at this relatively early stage.
It will come as no surprise that a team who have failed to record a victory in their last eight competitive outings have been poor at the back. Despite having an experienced set of defenders, they are still yet to register a clean sheet in this qualification campaign. They are not too bad in the final third and have actually scored in each of their last five qualifying games, however, despite these admirable efforts up front, their leaky defence means they are unable to pick up victories.
Jvarosnebi have an appalling record on their travels, picking up just seven competitive victories away from home since 1994.
This is obviously a must-win match for Austria and I expect them to get the job done. Georgia may have picked up a couple of away goals in recent matches but I do not think they have enough about them to score against a side whose defence has such a good record on home soil. Austria to Win to Nil is priced at 11/10.