Austria take on Slovakia on Sunday in both nations' final warm-up friendly before Euro 2020 begins next week.
The hosts are looking to bounce back from Wednesday's narrow 1-0 defeat to England, while Slovakia will be aiming to improve on a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria the day beforehand.
Match preview
© Reuters
Despite ultimately losing to a Bukayo Saka second-half winner in Middlesbrough on Wednesday, Austria manager Franco Foda would have been fairly satisfied with his team's application against one of Euro 2020's outright favourites.
Indeed, his side had considerably more shots and more possession than the Three Lions, while showing plenty of aggression on the way to committing 19 fouls and consequently picking up three yellow cards.
While Euro 2020 remains the priority, with Das Team facing Netherlands, Ukraine and North Macedonia as they attempt to progress from Group C, Foda will be keen for his side to earn a morale-boosting win against Slovakia on Sunday.
Should they apply similar levels of spirit and quality as they did against England, there is every chance that they can do so ahead of their opening match against North Macedonia one week later.
© Reuters
Slovakia, meanwhile, may have taken less confidence from failing to beat a Bulgaria side which has not qualified for this summer's major tournament.
In fairness, key players such as Marek Hamsik, Milan Skriniar and Martin Dubravka were not involved in the international friendly, with manager Stefan Tarkovic potentially saving the trio for this Sunday's trip to Austria instead.
However, Tarkovic would still have been disappointed by falling short of victory against a country which is 35 places lower than his in the FIFA rankings.
With Spain, Poland and Sweden to overcome in Group E at Euro 2020, Slovakia will need to perform much better if they are to reach the knockout stages for a second successive European Championship, with a decent performance potentially required in Austria on Sunday to build momentum.
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Former West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic missed the friendly defeat to England with a thigh injury and is unlikely to be risked ahead of Euro 2020.
Captain Julian Baumgartlinger recovered from his recent injury to appear from the bench, though, and could start in order to allow David Alaba to drop deeper into a more favoured position in central midfield.
Christopher Trimmel could receive the nod ahead of Stefan Lainer at right-back after enjoying a superb season with Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Slovakia, meanwhile, are likely to bring Dubravka, Skriniar and Hamsik into the starting XI as Tarkovic looks to build rhythm and confidence ahead of Euro 2020.
The 48-year-old was unable to convince former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel to come out of international retirement, though, leaving Peter Pekarik as the most experienced defender in the squad after the Hertha Berlin right-back earned his 100th cap against Bulgaria in midweek.
Austria possible starting lineup:
Bachman; Trimmel, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Friedl; Laimer, Schlager, Alaba; Baumgartlinger, Kalajdzic, Sabitzer
Slovakia possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Pekarik, Satka, Skriniar, Hubocan; Lobotka, Hrosovsky, Hamsik; Suslov, Duris, Weiss
We say: Austria 1-1 Slovakia
With little separating these two nations, we can envisage a low-scoring draw.
Neither manager will want to lose ahead of Euro 2020, so it would be little surprise to see a stalemate play out.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
