St. Polten v Rapid Vienna
St. Polten
Previous match(Sturm Graz - St Polten, 3:2)
St. Polten started the match with an early goal in 3 min by Thaurauer, who scored the second time only 9 minutes later, thus giving his team an early 2 goal lead. But the home side answered with a goal of their own in 16 min by Zulechner. The match then continued fairly even for the remainder of the 1st half. Sturm Graz came off as a dominant side in 2nd half, continuing to look for opportunities for an equaliser and they got one in 60 min with a 12-yard goal from Hierlander. The match continued with teams both looking for a winning goal. As it was the case from the start of 2nd half, Graz was slightly better, thus created more chances than their opponents. The deciding moment happened in stoppage time when Graz was awarded a penalty kick, which resulted in a goal, scored by Zulj.
St. Pölten have continued their activity in the transfer market by capturing two quite solid midfielders, Rasner and Hofbauer joining their team. The latter is out from this game due to an injury but Rasner may be a useful addition to their squad. A few changes are expected as Fallman will try to refresh his side after their last-minute loss in Graz. Anything but a home defeat would be a big surprise and excellent outcome for the hosts. Against Rapid Wien, whose main aim will be to get all three points, the home side will face very tough mission and +0.5 AH line seems pretty unreachable. Their home form is not something they’ll be proud of and if they fall behind, a negative trend is expected to continue. Most of the game’s actions will occur in their half as they’ll be forced to defend deep behind the ball. However, they showed last week, they are capable to break forward through their goals came from deadly balls in the box. It is very likely that Rapid will score so going over 2.5 line is a good call here. If behind, they’ll press and open up which may result in them conceding more.
Rapid Vienna
Previous match(Rapid Vienna - Mattersburg, 2:2)
As it was expected, Rapid Wien started the match as a stronger team, which was expected, to be fair. In 24 min one of the key incidents happened when Joelinton got a red card due to his response to being fouled by Novak, by kicking him. However, this incident resulted in a goal for Rapid Wien, when the ball bounced off the wall. 2nd goal for Rapid Wien came 12 min into the 2nd half when Wober found the net after a great pass from Schrammel. Rapid Wien continued to be a better team throughout the match but gave Mattersburg too many opportunities. Mattersburg used those opportunities to score 2 goals in quick succession in 74 min and 79 min; by Prevljak and Maierhofer. This could easily end up in a great win for Rapid Wien, but it ended up in a match they “lost” in the last 20 min.
Rapid Vienna will head into this game significantly weakened in attack as 3rd choice Prosenik is likely to lead the line. Joelinton is banned following his sending off against Mattersburg, Kvilitaia is injured while Jelic was loaned out. Szanto and Schaub are going to push strongly to get back in the team, veteran S. Hofmann is set to be benched. Only three points will count for Rapid Wien here so expect them to push strongly until the final whistle if level or behind. They have -0.5 AH line to overcome, considering the difference between these two sides, this shouldn’t be a problem here. They are going to dominate, press and be more threatening from the start. The visitors are an attack-minded team and they are not going to stop and abandon their playing style if they manage to edge ahead. This is likely to result with them being able to create several goal-scoring chances and considering their goals have been coming from all-around the pitch, they shouldn’t rely only on their central striker. Over 2.5 seems likely and should be backed.
Prediction: Over 2.50 goals
Odds: 2.06 Pinnacle
St. Polten
Previous match(Sturm Graz - St Polten, 3:2)
St. Polten started the match with an early goal in 3 min by Thaurauer, who scored the second time only 9 minutes later, thus giving his team an early 2 goal lead. But the home side answered with a goal of their own in 16 min by Zulechner. The match then continued fairly even for the remainder of the 1st half. Sturm Graz came off as a dominant side in 2nd half, continuing to look for opportunities for an equaliser and they got one in 60 min with a 12-yard goal from Hierlander. The match continued with teams both looking for a winning goal. As it was the case from the start of 2nd half, Graz was slightly better, thus created more chances than their opponents. The deciding moment happened in stoppage time when Graz was awarded a penalty kick, which resulted in a goal, scored by Zulj.
St. Pölten have continued their activity in the transfer market by capturing two quite solid midfielders, Rasner and Hofbauer joining their team. The latter is out from this game due to an injury but Rasner may be a useful addition to their squad. A few changes are expected as Fallman will try to refresh his side after their last-minute loss in Graz. Anything but a home defeat would be a big surprise and excellent outcome for the hosts. Against Rapid Wien, whose main aim will be to get all three points, the home side will face very tough mission and +0.5 AH line seems pretty unreachable. Their home form is not something they’ll be proud of and if they fall behind, a negative trend is expected to continue. Most of the game’s actions will occur in their half as they’ll be forced to defend deep behind the ball. However, they showed last week, they are capable to break forward through their goals came from deadly balls in the box. It is very likely that Rapid will score so going over 2.5 line is a good call here. If behind, they’ll press and open up which may result in them conceding more.
Rapid Vienna
Previous match(Rapid Vienna - Mattersburg, 2:2)
As it was expected, Rapid Wien started the match as a stronger team, which was expected, to be fair. In 24 min one of the key incidents happened when Joelinton got a red card due to his response to being fouled by Novak, by kicking him. However, this incident resulted in a goal for Rapid Wien, when the ball bounced off the wall. 2nd goal for Rapid Wien came 12 min into the 2nd half when Wober found the net after a great pass from Schrammel. Rapid Wien continued to be a better team throughout the match but gave Mattersburg too many opportunities. Mattersburg used those opportunities to score 2 goals in quick succession in 74 min and 79 min; by Prevljak and Maierhofer. This could easily end up in a great win for Rapid Wien, but it ended up in a match they “lost” in the last 20 min.
Rapid Vienna will head into this game significantly weakened in attack as 3rd choice Prosenik is likely to lead the line. Joelinton is banned following his sending off against Mattersburg, Kvilitaia is injured while Jelic was loaned out. Szanto and Schaub are going to push strongly to get back in the team, veteran S. Hofmann is set to be benched. Only three points will count for Rapid Wien here so expect them to push strongly until the final whistle if level or behind. They have -0.5 AH line to overcome, considering the difference between these two sides, this shouldn’t be a problem here. They are going to dominate, press and be more threatening from the start. The visitors are an attack-minded team and they are not going to stop and abandon their playing style if they manage to edge ahead. This is likely to result with them being able to create several goal-scoring chances and considering their goals have been coming from all-around the pitch, they shouldn’t rely only on their central striker. Over 2.5 seems likely and should be backed.
Prediction: Over 2.50 goals
Odds: 2.06 Pinnacle