An important game in Group J between two sides fresh from 3-0 and 3-1 victories, meaning the winner of this will automatically be in the next round. Will Lionel Messi add to his Wednesday hat-trick? Will Argentina keep their eighth clean sheet in nine? Let’s try to decipher it all.
Messi and His Mates to Make It Two from Two
Breaching the Argentine defence has proved to be a tough task of late, and yet another clean sheet could well be on the cards for them.
But even if they do concede, it’s very unlikely to be more than once, while Austria will put up more of a fight at the back than Jordan did.
So 1-0 or 2-0 look like lively runners, with 2-1 not out of the question; all scorelines are covered by a bet on Argentina winning with under 3.5 goals in the match.
- Key Stat: Argentina’s 3-0 win the other day was their seventh match in eight in which they won without conceding. The only team to have scored against them in that period was…Mauritania.
- Best Bet: Argentina to win and under 3.5 goals
- Odds: 2.1 (at the time of writing)
Argentina
Having lost their opening match at the previous World Cup to Saudi Arabia, Argentina will have been delighted with their 3-0 win against Algeria.
On paper, it looked all pretty straightforward, but would they have even won if Lionel Messi hadn’t been around?
The fact Messi got all three goals suggests this is a side still overly reliant on their 38-year-old talisman, but some might ask: so what? All teams have one player they depend on to make a difference, so why should it be any different when it comes to the Inter Miami man?
Messi’s Miami FC teammate Rodrigo de Paul impressed, while Atletico Madrid man Julian Alvarez had to settle for a place on the bench last time out, but might get a start here.
- Player to watch: Rodrigo de Paul – 7.5 to score anytime / 15.0 to be first goalscorer
Austria
Austria are one of international football’s most improved sides over the last decade or so and showed their intent and attacking ability with a good 3-1 win over Jordan. But it’s a result that somewhat flattered them because, despite having more possession, Jordan matched them for shots on target and off target and had only one fewer corner. They’ll also be concerned about the fact that they conceded to a side ranked just 68th in the world.
So Austria are going to have to step it up here against a far superior side to Jordan and will be hoping for a big performance from Borussia man Marcel Sabitzer, who had a quiet game by his standards on Wednesday. This is a special game for him as it will be his 100th appearance for his country.
- Player to watch: Marcel Sabitzer – 5.5 to score anytime / 13.0 to be first goal scorer
Did You Know?
There wasn’t just one man with an iconic footballing surname in that Argentina v Algeria match, but two.
In goal for Algeria was Luca Zidane, the 28-year-old son of Zinedine ‘Zizou’. Zidane, who opted to play for the African side rather than France. Footage of Zizou watching from the stands suggests he wasn’t best impressed with what he saw.
