Austria vs Türkiye Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Round of 16

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Surprise Group D winners Austria have drawn plaudits for their EURO 2024 performances so far, but former European Championship semi-finalists Türkiye will hope to dump them out in Leipzig

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Tuesday 2nd July, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – ITV / US – FOX

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – ITVX / US –VIX

AUSTRIA PREVIEW: BACK-TO-BACK WINS AND NOW GENUINE CONTENDERS

Most would have seen Austria as distinct outsiders when it came pre-tournament to discussing potential Group D winners. Even more so after they were beaten 0-1 by France in their opening game, albeit promise was shown in a spirited performance. That promise has since been fulfilled by Ralf Rangnick’s side, winning their following two games against Poland and Netherlands respectively, scoring three goals on both occasions.

France failed to beat Poland meant that Austria finished as Group D winners on six points, which opens the draw up beautifully from their point of view. Beating Türkiye would mean a quarter-final vs either Romania or Netherlands, whom they already defeated in the group stage. It represents a golden opportunity for Austria to potentially do something extremely special at this tournament.

TÜRKIYE PREVIEW: TWO WINS IN GROUP F DEMONSTRATES RESILIENCE AMID BATTLE-HARDENED SQUAD

Türkiye seem to have flown under the radar across this competition so far, but having quietly racked up two victories in Group F, they’ve found a winning formula and under-estimating them would be a huge misjudgement. Their last group stage fixture was a bad-tempered affair vs Czechia with yellow cards dished out left right and centre. However, Türkiye were on the right side of the result, overcoming their opponents by two goals to one.

It was striker Cenk Tosun who scored the winning goal for Türkiye, whilst Arda Guler started after fitness issues forced him to only come off the bench against Portugal. A player of Guler’s individual brilliance could prove absolutely vital in this win-or-bust Round of 16 fixture where the stars usually take centre-stage.

AUSTRIA TEAM NEWS: BAUMGARTNER LIKELY TO START BUT MWENE AND TRAUNER DOUBTFUL

Patrick Wimmer started against Netherlands, but his suspension opens the door for Christoph Baumgartner to slot back into the side, but illness has rendered full-back Phillipp Mwene a doubt after he missed Austria’s third group game entirely. Gernot Trauner is also a potential absence through injury.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Pentz; Posch, Danso, Lienhart, Mwene; Seiwald, Grillitsch; Schmid, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Arnautovich

UNAVAILABLE: Wimmer (Suspended)

QUESTIONABLE: Mwene (Illness), Trauner (Injured)

TÜRKIYE TEAM NEWS: BARDAKCI TO RETURN AT THE BACK BUT CALHANOGLU & SAMET MISS OUT

The suspensions of both Akaydin Samet and captain Hakan Calhanoglu are huge misses for Türkiye, particularly Calhanoglu, who scored the opening goal against Czechia and has been so important for his side in midfield. In better news though, centre-back Abdulkerim Bardakci will retake his place in defence after suspension ruled him out of the Czechia victory.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Gunok; Muldur, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Yuksek, Kaan Ayhan; Guler, Kokcu, Yildiz; Tosun

UNAVAILABLE: Calhanoglu (Suspended), Samet (Suspended)

QUESTIONABLE:

KEY STATS

• This is the first major final tournament meeting between these two teams. Austria lead the head-to-head record with nine wins to seven, the pair have drawn only once in their 17 encounters.
• Austria’s only previous EURO final tournament knockout match was their 2-1 extra-time defeat against Italy in the round of 16 at EURO 2020.
• Austria have won eight of their last 10 international matches (D1 L1).
• Austria have only failed to score in one of their last 20 international matches.
• Austria have scored six goals in their last two EURO matches. They had only scored seven goals in ten EURO matches prior to EURO 2024.
• Only one of Austria’s previous 13 EURO matches has finished without a goal being scored.
• Austria have scored inside the opening ten minutes of six of their last seven international matches.
• Türkiye have reached the EURO knockout rounds for the first time since they were semi-finalists at EURO 2008. Their only other previous qualification from the group stage was at EURO 2000.
• Türkiye’s only success in their previous three EURO knockout round ties is their 3-1 victory on penalties against Croatia in the quarter-finals at EURO 2008.
• Only two of Türkiye’s 21 EURO matches have finished level.
• Only one of Türkiye’s 21 EURO matches has finished goalless. That was a 0-0 draw against Sweden in the group stage at EURO 2000
• Türkiye have been winning at half-time in only two of their previous 21 EURO matches.

AUSTRIA VS TÜRKIYE PREDICTION

Last time these two nations clashed was fairly recently, March 2024 to be precise. It was a memorable game for both teams but for different reasons, Austria triumphing 6-1 in Vienna. This is an excellent Austrian unit under Ralf Rangnick and while quite not defensively formidable, they make up for it with their high-voltage attacking play and dynamic press off the ball.

This has all the makings of being one of the most entertaining Round of 16 clashes with plenty of chances at each end. It would be no surprise if both teams found the net but when it comes to the full-time result, against a Türkiye side missing their talismanic captain, backing Austria to triumph appears the smart play.

AUSTRIA VS TÜRKIYE TIP: AUSTRIA TO WIN & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE