Rheindorf Altach and WSG Swarovski Tirol get underway in the 2024-25 Austrian Bundesliga campaign when they lock horns at the CASHPOINT Arena on Saturday.
Still reeling from their gut-wrenching OFB Cup exit, the Vorarlberg outfit will head into the weekend looking to bounce back and kick off the new league campaign as they mean to go on.
Match preview
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Rheindorf Altach were on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 OFB Cup opening round as they suffered a shock 2-0 loss against amateur side Donaufeld last Saturday.
With just 14 minutes played at the Sportplatz Donaufeld, 23-year-old Antonio Babis opened the scoring to put the Regionalliga Ost side in front before Floris Van Zaanen netted in the 91st minute to put the result beyond doubt.
For Altach, this came off the back of a solid pre-season campaign as they went unbeaten in five of their six warm-up games — claiming three wins and one draw — with a 2-1 loss against Swiss outfit Luzern on June 29 being the exception.
Head coach Joachim Standfest will back his side to quickly put last week's defeat behind them and get the league campaign off on a high as they aim to improve on their disappointing 2023-24 campaign.
Following a poor showing in the first half of the season, Altach dropped into the relegation group, where they finished fourth in the table with 21 points from 32 games, just five points above the relegation spot.
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Like this weekend's hosts, Swarovski Tirol picked up just three wins from their 10 games in the relegation round last season while losing four and claiming three draws to collect 12 points from a possible 30 and finish fifth in the table, three points above the drop zone.
This was followed by an unconvincing pre-season campaign, where Philipp Semlic's men failed to win any of their five warm-up matches, losing three and claiming two draws while conceding 15 goals and scoring seven.
However, Tirol turned in a solid team display in their first outing of the season as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Regionalliga West outfit SC Imst in the first round of the OFB Cup last Saturday.
In a one-sided affair at the Velly Arena Imst, Bror Blume Jensen opened the scoring midway through the first half to hand the visitors a first-half lead before substitute Tobias Anselm scored a second-half brace to cap off a superb individual performance.
While Tirol will look to pick up from where they left off last weekend and get their league campaign off on the right foot, they take on an Altach side who are unbeaten in 16 of their most recent 20 encounters, claiming nine wins and seven draws since July 2014.
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Team News
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Altach will be without new signing Luca Kronberger, who is suspended after picking up a straight red card while in action for Tirol in the 2023-24 season finale against Wolfsberger.
Lukas Gugganig played the full 90 minutes against Donaufeld last weekend and should retain his role in the back three, while Mike-Steven Bahre and Vesel Demaku should team up in midfield once again.
Lukas Fridrikas finished last season in fine form, netting four goals in his final six matches, and the 26-year-old should lead the hosts' attack, alongside Brazilian striker Gustavo Santos Costa.
As for Tirol, Adam Stejskal will play no part in Saturday's league opener due to suspension after picking up a red card against Wolfsberger in the final game of last season.
Felix Bacher, who made 28 league appearances last season, has signed for Portuguese outfit Estoril Praia while Slovenian striker Nik Prelec, who finished with eight goals and four assists, has returned to his parent club Cagliari.
Anselm was a standout performer against Imst last time out and the 24-year-old will push for a starting role, potentially teaming up with Mahamadou Diarra and new signing Lukas Hinterseer in the front three.
Rheindorf Altach possible starting lineup:
Stojanovic; Koller, Gugganig, Ingolitsch; Ouedraogo, Bahre, Demaku, Gebauer; Fadinger, Fridrikas, Costa
WSG Swarovski Tirol possible starting lineup:
Stejskal; Czyborra, Gugganig, Lawrence, Sulzbacher; Jensen, Muller, Taferner; Anselm, Diarra, Hinterseer
We say: Rheindorf Altach 2-1 WSG Swarovski Tirol
Following their disappointing cup exit, Altach will need no extra motivation to produce a positive showing as they look to kick off the league campaign on a positive note. While Tirol will look to continue from where they left off against Imst, they have failed to win any of their last five visits to the CASHPOINT Arena and we see them struggling this weekend.
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Joshua Ojele
