Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Austria
Match Time & Date:
20/03/2025
20:45
Prediction: 3-1
Serbia
Ernst Happel Stadion will be the centre of attention when Austria and Serbia take on each other in the Nations League relegation final, first leg. Following three consecutive wins, the Austrians shared the spoils with Slovenia in their last Nations League game. However, they are seen as hot favourites to beat Serbia, who head into Thursday’s clash with a severely-weakened squad. The good news for the hosts is that fit-again defender David Alaba is back to the squad.
The Serbs, on the other hand, are hit by suspensions. Considering that all Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Andrija Zivkovic, and Aleksa Terzic miss the first leg, we believe that there is a big value in betting on Austria. The likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and Filip Kostic have been omitted. In their last meeting in a competitive match, Austria defeated Serbia 3-2, which definitely goes in favour of our betting prediction.
Highlighted Player (Predrag Rajkovic):
Predrag Rajkovic is a professional footballer who plays for Stade Reims and the Serbian National team. Born on the 31st of October, 1995, the Serbian goalkeeper spent his youth career with Hajduk Velijko and Jagodina before signing a professional contract, his first, with the latter in 2012.
His first professional appearance came on the 9th of March, 2013, in a Serbian Superliga match against Partizan. A two-year stint at Red Star Belgrade succeeded Rajkovic's time at Jagodina, after which he moved to Israel to join Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2015. At Aviv, the six-foot-tall established himself as a first-team regular, and in his four-year spell at the club, he made 192 appearances, kept 90 clean sheets and won the Toto Cup.
The 24-year old now plays in Ligue one with Stade Reims and is on a contract that expires in 2023. At the International level, Rajkovic is a former youth international and has capped at every youth level for Serbia. He made his senior team debut meanwhile on the 14th of August, 2013, in a friendly match against Colombia.
Highlighted Team (Austria):
Austria is one of Europe’s oldest national football teams and they enjoyed plenty of success during the 1930’s, earning the nickname Wunderteam in the process. Das Team achieved a fourth-place finish at the second World Cup in 1934, before finishing in third place at the 1954 finals. However, Austria have since participated at another five World Cup finals, never getting past the first knockout stage.
Das Team were even more disappointing in the European Championship qualifying campaigns, failing to qualify for 12 straight tournaments before appearing at the 2008 finals as co-hosts. However, Austria made it to the Euro 2016 in style, winning nine of ten qualifiers to suggest the team may be on the path to return to old glory days.
Former Bayern Munich midfielder Andreas Herzog is the team’s most capped footballer with 103 appearances, whereas Toni Polster is the most prolific striker with 44 goals in 95 outings. Matthias Sinderlar, Ernst Ocwirk, Herbert Prohaska and Hans Krankl are some of the most notable players to have represented Austria over the years.
Bulgaria 
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Portugal 
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Germany 
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