Preview: Austria vs. Serbia – prediction, team news, lineups

Preview: Austria vs. Serbia – Prediction, Team News, Lineups

Before their respective Euro 2024 campaigns take precedence, Austria and Serbia commence their preparations for the tournament on Tuesday, meeting in Vienna for an international friendly.

One of many coaches to turn down the chance to take over from Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich, Ralf Rangnick has instead masterminded an exhilarating run of form at the Austria helm, culminating in Das Team’s third-straight Euros finals qualification. Failing to win any of their group-stage games in the 2016 edition before progressing to the last 16 three years ago, Austria finished just one shy of qualification Group F winners Belgium to join the Red Devils in the automatic top-two positions, accruing 19 points from 24 on offer. Since closing out a successful preliminary campaign with back-to-back triumphs over Azerbaijan and Estonia, Austria have remained irrepressible in a trio of friendlies, stunning Euro 2024 hosts Germany 2-0 before opening the calendar year with a 2-0 beating of Slovakia. Turkey may have denied Rangnick’s men a fifth straight clean sheet on March 26, but Das Team hit their beleaguered foes for six themselves to prolong their excellent winning streak, thanks in no small part to a Michael Gregoritsch hat-trick. Since concluding a doomed 2022-23 Nations League campaign, only one of Austria’s last 14 matches in all competitions has ended in defeat – another 11 have ended in victory – although pipping either France or the Netherlands to one of the top two spots in Euro 2024 Group D should still be a tall order.

Another taxing battle against Switzerland is in store for Austria on June 8 following their showdown with Serbia, who are also not many people’s picks to advance from Euro 2024 Group C over either England, Denmark or an in-form Slovenia outfit later this month. Led by national team icon Dragan Stojkovic, Serbia came up short in both of their qualifying games against Group G winners Hungary and also dropped four points against Bulgaria, but by doing doubles over Montenegro and Lithuania, the Eagles sneaked into second place. However, Serbia’s overall record does not spark optimism of a deep run in Germany, as despite edging out Cyprus 1-0 in March’s friendly thanks to a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic strike, that triumph was just a third victory from nine games for Stojkovic’s side. Nevertheless, after three World Cup appearances since 2010, Serbia have already made history with their first Euros qualifications as an independent nation; the last time they competed at the continent’s premier tournament in 2000, they were still known as Serbia and Montenegro. Furthermore, three of the Eagles’ previous four showdowns against Austria have ended in victory, although the one outlier is their most recent meeting in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, where Das Team left it late to prevail 3-2 thanks to an 89th-minute Louis Schaub effort.

**Austria vs. Serbia, Friendly Match, Euro 2024 Preparation**

**Austria vs. Serbia, International Friendly, Predictions, Team News**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Possible Lineups, Key Players, Match Analysis**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Football, Euro 2024, Friendly Match Preview**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Latest News, Updates, Pre-Match Analysis**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Sports Mole, Match Preview, Expert Predictions**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Football News, International Friendly, Head to Head**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Key Stats, Players to Watch, Match Preview**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Soccer, Friendly Match, Team News, Lineups**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Latest Updates, Pre-Match Buildup, Euro 2024**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Soccer Match, Expert Analysis, Friendly Encounter**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Sports News, Euro 2024 Preparation, Match Preview**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Preview, Team News, Lineups, Predictions**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Football Preview, International Friendly, Euro 2024**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Match Preview, Key Information, Pre-Match Analysis**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Soccer News, Friendly Match, Euro 2024 Preparation**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Sports Analysis, Expert Predictions, Lineups**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Football News, Latest Updates, Match Preview**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Soccer Match, Key Players, Team News, Preview**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Prediction, Team News, Lineups**

**Austria vs. Serbia, International Friendly, Euro 2024 Preparation**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Football Preview, Match Analysis, Predictions**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Latest News, Updates, Team News**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Soccer Match, Friendly Encounter, Euro 2024**

**Austria vs. Serbia, Sports Mole, Expert Predictions, Match Preview**