Belgium and Austria shared eight goals in an end-to-end thriller in Brussels back in October and there should be plenty of excitement again when the pair meet on Friday.
That 4-4 draw came on the opening night of qualification for Euro 2012 and this pair and Turkey are set to fight it out for the runners-up spot behind Germany in Group A.
Austria currently hold the advantage, with seven points from three matches, but that doesn’t tell the whole story and they look short enough to me to prevail.
Routine home wins against Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Vienna were expected but Austria have failed to trouble the best for many years now and Belgium certainly possess the greater potential, despite the absence of long-term injury victim Thomas Vermaelen.
While Austria have points on the board, Belgium are playing catch-up but Georges Leeken‘s side have had a tough start to the campaign and they were unlucky twice in defeat, at home to Germany and in Turkey.
Miroslav Klose proved the difference when they took on the Euro 2008 runner-up last time out and I’m certain Belgium would have held on for a valuable point in Istanbul prior to that were it not for Vincent Kompany’s dismissal.
Belgium, tipped by many to make an impact at the finals in Poland-Ukraine next summer, possess quality right throughout their side an in Kompany have a defender who has excelled for Manchester City in the Premier League this season.
Other English-based stars, including Marouane Fellaini, are complemented nicely by the exciting duo of Romelu Lukaku and Moussa Dembele in attack and this is a match I don’t see Belgium losing.
Austria are very much a work in progress following their disastrous finals campaign three years ago, scoring just once in three matches as co-hosts with Switzerland, and none of the current squad possess more than 40 caps for Friday’s hosts.
That inexperience alone is not necessarily a negative but quality looks thin on the ground for coach Dietmar Constantini and their bright start to qualifying is far from certain to last.
It’s an interesting week in the race for Euro 2012 and I rate Austria much closer to the 3.00 mark to see-off their higher-ranked opponents. At a best-priced 2.50, therefore, I am very much against them and a Belgium win is certainly not dismissed.
2pts Lay Austria (vs. Belgium) @ 2.56 (Betfair)