Slovenia will welcome Austria to Stozice Stadium on Friday evening, with the two teams locking horns in Group 3 of League B in the UEFA Nations League. Both sides reached the last-16 stage of Euro 2024, with Slovenia losing on penalties to Portugal in the first knockout round, while Austria suffered a 2-1 defeat to Turkey.

Slovenia's Euro 2024 campaign will undoubtedly go down as a huge success, having managed to reach the knockout round of the tournament in just their second-ever participation in the finals of a European Championship. The national team will now switch their attention to the Nations League, and they will once again be competing in League B of the competition, but this time in Group 3 alongside Austria, Kazakhstan and Norway. In 2022-23, Slovenia finished third in Group 4, picking up six points from their six matches, having gained promotion to League B due to finishing top of Group 3 of League C in 2020-21.

Matjaz Kek's side will tackle Austria and Norway during this international break, before taking on both Norway and Kazakhstan in October, and it will be interesting to see how the section unfolds. Slovenia have only ever faced Austria on four previous occasions, and they have just one victory to their name, which proved to be a 2-0 success in their first meeting in a friendly back in March 1997.

Austria, as mentioned, also progressed to the last-16 stage of Euro 2024, and they were tipped as potential outsiders for the trophy due to their strong performance in the group stage of the competition. However, Ralf Rangnick's side came up just short, losing 2-1 to Turkey in the first knockout round, and their attention is now on the Nations League, with games to come against Slovenia and Norway during this international break.

Austria were relegated from League A in 2022-23 after finishing bottom of Group 1, picking up just four points from their six matches against Croatia, Denmark and France. Das Team are on a three-game winning run against Slovenia, including a 1-0 success when the two teams last locked horns in a Euro 2020 qualification fixture in October 2019. However, Austria have lost each of their last three matches in the Nations League, while they have not been victorious in the competition since a 3-0 success over Croatia in June 2022.

Slovenia's side is expected to be similar to the one that started against Portugal in the last-16 stage of Euro 2024, with Benjamin Sesko in line to feature in the final third of the field. Sesko struggled to make his mark at the recent European Championship, but the 21-year-old has 11 goals in 33 games for his country, while he has started the 2024-25 campaign with one goal and two assists in three games for RB Leipzig.

Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak will be another notable inclusion in the starting side, but 29-year-old defender Zan Karnicnik has not been selected in the current squad due to injury. As for Austria, there should once again be a spot in the final third of the field for Marko Arnautovic, while Marcel Sabitzer and Konrad Laimer are also set to start for the visitors on Friday.

Michael Gregoritsch will be in Rangnick's thinking when it comes to a potential starting role, but he might have to accept a spot on the bench, with Christopher Baumgartner and Romano Schmid set to keep their spots. Kevin Danso is likely to continue at right-back for Austria, while Nicolas Seiwald is expected to operate in midfield.

Slovenia’s recent form and recent player performance 

The “Boys” are coming into this UEFA Nations League opener on the back of a five-game winless streak. At the UEFA EURO 2024, they finished third in Group C with three points from three draws. In the round of 16 they also drew against Portugal, but were eliminated by penalties 3-0 with no conversion. For this participation, they had two friendly matches in which they first beat Armenia in June and a few days later they drew with Bulgaria. In the last edition of this tournament, they finished third in Group 4 of League B with one win, three draws and two defeats.

Austria’s recent form and recent play performance 

On the other hand, the “Wonder Team” is coming with a more than good performance and with better results in this year's Euro 2024. In the group stage, they finished first in zone D with six points from two wins and one loss. Then, they lost in the round of 16 against Turkey by 2 to 1. An important fact is that out of the last 11 matches they won eight, drew one and lost twice. In the last edition of the UEFA Nations League, they were relegated from League A after scoring four points in six matches: one win, one draw and four losses.

Slovenia vs Austria Prediction

These are both teams that have firepower in the offensive third and I expect that is going to be the difference here. Slovenia and Austria are both going to get quality scoring chances here, and that will be the difference here as this game is going to end up being higher scoring. Back the over to cash here. This is one of the best plays of the day in the Nations League. 

Slovenia’s offense has been a struggle heading into this game and they are going to need to turn it around here. In the round of 16 against Portugal in the last game, Slovenia failed to score any goals and they ended up losing in a shootout. Two games ago against England, Slovenia played to a 0-0 draw. Slovenia is expected to start a similar lineup that they played in the last game and that’s going to include Benjamin Sesko who is going to need to have a huge game here. One big player missing is Zan Karnicnik who is dealing with an injury and hasn’t been selected for the squad. 

Austria ran into quite the buzzsaw in the last game. Austria scored one goal against Turkey but it wasn’t enough as the defense gave up two goals. They gave up two goals in the first 59th minute but against Michael Gregortisch scored in the 66th minute to draw it within one. They couldn’t find the back of the net again though, and they ended up losing. Marko Arnautovic is going to start again in the final third, and he’s going to be leaned on heavily in this game ot find success. Nicolas Seiwald is also expected to start against the midfield. 

Final thoughts on Slovenia vs Austria prediction

Both sides will be confident heading into this one, having reached the last 16 of Euro 2024. Slovenia's defense has been solid and their attack has been effective in patches, but they may struggle against an Austrian side that is looking to bounce back from their recent Nations League struggles. Austria has firepower in the final third and should be able to create chances, but it remains to be seen if they can maintain a clean sheet against a Slovenian side that has shown a good attacking ability in recent times. It will be a close game, so you might be able to make some good money here. 

18+ Has gambling become a problem for you? Call the National Problem Gambling Hotline. 1-800-522-4700 | ncpgambling.org

Packages with Credit Guarantees automatically give you a credit if the package does not turn a profit—the sum of betting all individual picks. THESE ARE NOT PARLAYS UNLESS OTHERWISE CLEARLY STATED. If a credit guaranteed package does not profit, a credit for its full purchase price is automatically issued after picks are graded and verified.

For example, if you purchase a $39.95 package that doesn’t profit, you’ll get a $39.95 credit towards any future purchase(s) on our site. Credits are usually issued within hours of a game’s conclusion, so please allow a few hours for final verification.

To use your credits, log in to your account and add another package or pass to your cart. Credits will automatically reduce what you owe. Any remaining balance will be settled through our payment system, with any leftover credits available future purchases. Credits do not expire.

Dismiss