A place in the European Under-17 Championships semi-finals will be at stake when Austria Under-17s face Serbia Under-17s at the AEK Arena.
While Austria are appearing at the quarter-final stage for the first time since 2016, Serbia are making their third consecutive appearance in the last eight.
Match preview
Austria travelled to Cyprus with hopes of reaching the knockout rounds for the third time after appearing in the semi-finals in 2002 and the quarter-finals in 2016.
They have ultimately achieved their main objective, picking up seven points from their three matches to finish top of Group B.
After playing out a goalless draw with Croatia, Austria claimed their first win of the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Wales.
They produced another free-scoring display in Sunday's game against Denmark, with Philipp Moizi and Oghenetejiri Adejenughure netting braces in a comfortable 4-0 win.
Having recorded three consecutive clean sheets, Austria are the only side yet to concede at the 2024 tournament, ensuring that they head into the knockout stages with a solid defensive base.
In contrast to their opponents, Serbia's defensive vulnerabilities were exposed in Sunday's 4-3 defeat to Czech Republic.
Serbia appeared to be on course to claim all three points until they conceded in the 89th and the 93rd minute to fall to a disappointing defeat.
Fortunately for Serbia, their progression had already been sealed thanks to wins over Cyprus and Ukraine in their first two group matches.
They got their campaign up and running with a narrow 1-0 win over Ukraine, before they beat the tournament hosts Cyprus 3-1 to progress to secure a third successive quarter-final appearance at the European Under-17 Championship.
Serbia have experienced mixed fortunes in their recent quarter-final matches, beating Denmark in the last eight in 2022 before losing to Poland in 2023.
Team News
Austria boss Martin Scherb could be tempted to stick with an unchanged lineup following Sunday's dominant 4-0 win over Denmark.
Marcel Kurz will be looking to claim a fourth consecutive clean sheet, with the goalkeeper set to be shielded by the central-defensive pairing of Valentin Zabransky and Magnus Dalpiaz.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Adejenughure should be joined in the front three by Moizi and Mauro Hammerle.
As for Serbia, Damjanovic is expected to make several changes after rotating his side for the final group game.
Vukasin Jovanovic will replace Vladan Carapic in goal, while Igor Bubanja, Veljko Milosavljevic and Viktor Stojanovic are all set to return to the backline.
Andrija Maksimovic, Aleksa Vasilic and Mihajlo Cvetkovic are also expected to be recalled to the starting lineup for Wednesday's quarter-final.
Austria Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Kurz; Roka, Zabransky, Dalpiaz, Sorg; Music, Spalt, Hodl; Hammerle, Moizi, Adejenughure
Serbia Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Jovanovic; Bubanja, Milosavljevic, Stojanovic, Premovic; Maksimovic, Kostov, Vasilic; Djordjevic, Rankovic, Cvetkovic
We say: Austria Under-17s 2-0 Serbia Under-17s
Austria proved to be a tough team to break down in the group phase, and we think that they will produce another strong defensive display to help them get the better of Serbia in Wednesday's quarter-final.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Sully
