Northern Ireland vs Austria prediction, preview, and team news 

European soccer is heating up and Northern Ireland comes face-to-face with Austria on Monday in their next UEFA Nations League game.

Both Northern Ireland and Austria have been successful in their last outings with positive results hence a tough game awaits both teams.

Northern Ireland will be playing from home after its 1-1 (3-4 pens) victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina when they clashed at the on Stadion Grbavica on Thursday in the ongoing UEFA Euro qualifying match. 

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In 90 minutes, it ended one goal apiece with goals coming from AC Milan’s midfielder Rade Krunic for Bosnia and Herzegovina and a reply to cancel the lead from Niall McGinn. But on the day, the sudden death shoot-out ensured Northern Ireland triumph with a 3-4 penalty scoreline.

In the last 11 games between both sides, there is no difference between Northern Ireland and Austria. The head to head records shows four wins, four losses, and three draws for Northern Ireland. Their last four matches look like this, Northern Ireland form guide: D-L-D-L-W and that of Austria is W-L-W-L-W.

Pundits are expecting a drawn UEFA Nations League game between the two teams unless one of them is overly hungry for a win in 90 minutes. When they played each other in 2018, Austria beat Northern Ireland 2-1. This win might propel Northern Ireland to get their pound of flesh at home on Monday.

Both teams are gearing up for the titanic crash in this UEFA Nations League game hence putting together very strong teams to match each other. The game would be won in the midfield by the team that will triumph on the day. 

 Ian Baraclough, the head coach of Northern Ireland has called a strong side that includes the likes of Leicester City center-back Jonny Evans and Rangers midfielder Steven Davis.

Other players who were called to help record a win are the Reggina forward Kyle Lafferty, Oxford United midfielder Joel Cooper and St Johnstone midfielder Alistair McCann with the latter two hoping to play their first game for the team. 

Austria on the other hand will miss the services of goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, Philipp Lienhart, Gernot Traune who are injured. Players called to help do the job are

Austria’s star man, Bayern Munich’s David Alaba who is expected to lead the arsenal against Northern Ireland. Florian Grillitsch who plays for Hoffenheim and Xaver Schlager of Wolfsburg fame will add more bite to the attacking game of Austria as the midfield generals. 

Northern Ireland vs Austria prediction

Austria looks stronger than Northern Ireland on paper should be able to silence Northern Ireland in this game. Prediction for this Monday UEFA Nations League game: Northern Ireland 0-2 Austria. 

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