Northern Ireland v Austria

SCOUTING REPORT Andy Greeves takes a closer look at the Austrian team ahead of this afternoon’s UEFA Nations League encounter. LOWDOWN The result of Austria’s home match with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday will have determined whether or not it is still possible for the ‘Burschen’ to top UEFA Nations League League B Group 3 ahead of today’s fixture. Only a goal-laden victory will have kept those hopes alive for Franco Foda’s side prior to their visit to Belfast. Austria’s Nations League campaign has been blighted by injuries to key players. Skipper Julian Baumgartlinger sustained ligament damage to his left knee back in August and is gingerly making his way back to action. Along with Baumgartlinger star players such as David Alaba, Stefan Lainer and Marko Arnautović have also missed internationals through injury this season. .

TACTICS Austria lined up in a 4-4-2 formation against Northern Ireland in Vienna last month but shaped up in a 3-4-3 in a friendly with Denmark a few days later. They are likely to revert to a 4-4-2 today with West Ham United’s Marko Arnautović set to lead the Austrian line if available for selection. Austria have adopted a relatively direct style of play under Foda’s management, with a real emphasis on quick transitions from back to front. Full-backs such as Alaba and Stefan Lainer are comfortable joining in with attacking moves, while 21-year-old Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Xaver Schlager has shown real creative promise for both club and country

STRENGTHS A real hallmark of Franco Foda teams – including his 2010-11 Austrian Bundesliga winning Sturm Graz side – is that they are hard to beat. The Austrians’ back line, which usually includes centre halves such as Aleksandar Dragovic and Martin Hinteregger or Sebastian Prödl, and goalkeeper Heinz Lindner, are well organised and they rarely ship many goals. At the other end of the pitch Arnautović is key to Austria’s ambitions. Physically strong, the West Hamman has a real fleetness of foot and a sharp footballing brain. His movement enables him to get on the end of chances but he also takes up positions on the pitch that allows him to operate as an excellent link-up between midfield and attack .

POSSIBLE LINE-UP GK Heinz Lindner, RB Stefan Lainer, CB Sebastian Prödl, CB Martin Hinteregger, LB David Alaba, RM Valentino Lazaro, CM Peter Žulj, CM Stefan Ilsanker, LMMarcel Sabitzer, FWMarko Arnautović, FW Guido Burgstaller.

Many thanks to journalist Fabian Zerche (www.spox.com/at) for his assistance in the writing of this article.