Group F is arguably the weakest group of the entire tournament with no big European name within the four teams. However, Austria qualified impressively, winning nine out of their 10 matches, and are a good dark horse bet for the tournament. Hungary find themselves at a major tournament for the first time since the World Cup in 1986 and, with this being a weak group, could find themselves in contention to qualify.
Austria go into this game as favourites and and with good reason as most of their players play in the major European leagues. They are solid at the back with the likes of Tottenham’s Kevin Wimmer whilst Premier League winner Christian Fuchs will be a threat down the left hand side. Up front they have Marc Janko who scored an impressive seven goals in qualifying as well as Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic who is capable of creating something out of nothing.
Most predict that Hungary will have little impact at this tournament but they should not be underestimated. The Hungarians have an experienced coach in German Bernd Storck who knows how to get the best out of a group with limited technical ability. They are likely to soak up pressure and then hit teams on the counter.
In my Hungary team preview I tipped them to score against Austira in the second half at odds of 8/5. This still seems good value.
All of the opening games so far have been very conservative and we have not seen anybody run out as convincing winners. I think this trend will continue but I still expect Marcel Koller’s Austrians to come out on top. Austria to win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 seems at 7/5 seems like a good price.
See all of Thomas’s tips here.