UEFA Nations League: It Only Goes One Way for Austria and Serbia

Austria vs Serbia

Austria and Serbia will clash in a key UEFA Nations League play-off draw that will help determine who gets promoted to the higher league or relegated to the lower league in the next edition of the competition. The first leg will be this Thursday night at Ernst Happel Stadion. 

Ralf Rangnick’s Austria qualified for the promotion play-offs after finishing second in Group B3, with three wins, two draws, and one loss (11 points). Norway claimed the top spot with 13 points to secure their promotion to League A.

​Dragan Stojkovic’s Serbia qualified for the relegation play-offs after finishing third in Group A4, with one win, three draws, and two losses (six points). Spain and Denmark are through to the quarter-finals after claiming the top two seeds.

Austria and Serbia fight for a spot in League A, but only one can make it. Learn more about these two teams in today’s SBOTOP match preview.

 

Talking Points

Austria get defensive boost from captain

Ralf Rangnick will deploy a new-look Austria this international break, calling up several youngsters like Tobias Lawal, Samson Baidoo, Leopold Querfeld, Muhammed Cham, and Raul Florucz. However, he also recalled one veteran player for his valuable experience.

David Alaba is back with Austria for the first time in two years. The Real Madrid centre-back has battled injuries in the past few years but is back at 100-per cent fitness. Alaba is one of the most tenured national team members with 105 caps. Rangnick will attempt to slowly re-integrate Alaba into the mix.

Alaba will join Stefan Lainer, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene, Alexander Prass, and Gernot Trauner at the back. Marcel Sabitzer, Florian Grillitsch, Konrad Laimer, Christoph Baumgartner, Patrick Wimmer, and Xavier Schlager will lead the midfield. Marko Arnautovic, with 121 caps, will join Michael Gregoritsch in the final third.

Austria have reached new heights under Ralf Rangnick. They reached the Round of 16 of Euro 2024, so don’t be surprised if they secure promotion to League A. 

 

Vlahovic could regain his confidence with Serbia

Dusan Vlahovic has been relegated to the bench (except for a couple of starts against Cagliari and Empoli) since the winter arrival of loanee Randal Kolo Muani (from PSG), who has won over Juventus manager Thiago Motta.

Serbian national team head coach Dragan Stojkovic is not happy about it. During a recent press conference, Stojkovic vowed to do everything in his power to help Vlahovic regain his confidence, and the 25-year-old striker will get his chance this international break, especially since they didn’t call up Aleksandar Mitrovic. At one point, Vlahovic admitted he enjoyed playing for Serbia more than Juventus.

Besides Vlahovic, Serbia will rely heavily on the centre-back pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and Strahinja Pavlovic. Sasa Lukic and Nemanja Gudelj will play a lot in midfield, and Luka Jovic is Vlahovic’s primary backup. Predrag Rajkovic will man between the sticks for Serbia since Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is not with the team.

Stojkovic also introduced several new players to the national team like Mihaljo Cvetkovic, Nikola Stulic, Mirko Topic, Andrija Maksimovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Ognjen Mimovic, Jan-Carlo Simic, and Aleksander Jovanovic.

 

History

Austria won 2-1 against Serbia in an international friendly match last June 2024. Patrick Wimmer and Christoph Baumgartner scored two goals in just three minutes before Strahinja Pavlovic scored a consolation goal in the 35th minute.

Austria and Serbia will convene in a competitive match for the first time since 2017. Serbia lead Austria in their head-to-heads with 12 wins, with the latter recording seven wins and four draws.

Serbia rose to the top division of the UEFA Nations League after starting from League C in the inaugural edition in 2018-19. Meanwhile, Austria have always been in League B and secured their promotion to League A in 2022-23.

 

Betting Tip

The UEFA Nations League 2025 odds have high expectations for Austria despite being in a lower division than Serbia. Austria are 1.85 favourites to win the first leg, whereas Serbia are 4.07 underdogs, and a draw is valued at 3.18 in the 1X2 market.

Choosing the winner of this contest is difficult since both teams look evenly matched. However, we expect these two teams to entertain the fans at Ernst Happel Stadion by producing new UEFA Nations League 2025 highlights. Besides our recommended bet, bettors can also go for alternatives such as Over 2.00 at 1.68 and Over 2.25 at 1.95. Furthermore, a Correct Score of 2-1 in favour of the hosts – the result of their most recent meeting – has a generous 8.20 offer.

 

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