Austria travel to Torsvollur to take on the Faroe Islands on Saturday evening as the World Cup 2022 European qualifiers enter the crucial final stages.
The hosts managed a first win of the campaign in their last game, but still sit three points behind an underperforming Austria side.
Match preview
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The Faroe Islands have had a mixed year so far - their biggest ever international victory in a friendly against Liechtenstein, winning 5-1 in June, was followed by a heavy 4-0 defeat at home to Israel.
On paper, a 1-0 defeat to Euro 2020's fairytale team Denmark in their next game was a decent result for a side ranked 114th in the world, but they will be disappointed to have come so close to an unlikely draw, eventually conceding to a Jonas Wind header in the 85th minute.
They then finished the last international break with their first victory in Group F, triumphing 2-1 over bottom side Moldova thanks to second-half goals from Klamint Olsen and Heini Vatnsdal.
The fourth-smallest UEFA country by population still has a mathematical chance of progressing and, should they make it unlikely back-to-back victories on Saturday, they could even begin to dream.
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If their upcoming opponents are perhaps overachieving, Austria are certainly underachieving.
With Denmark the runaway leaders in Group F - on maximum points and yet to concede a goal - there is now only realistically the chance to compete for second place and the subsequent spot in the playoffs.
Austria are slipping away even from that, though, after defeats in their most recent qualifiers against Israel and Scotland.
It was a crushing 5-2 loss in the former, with The Blue and Whites three goals up in just over half an hour - and goals from Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic unable to turn the tie around - before Franco Foda's side fell to an unexpected 1-0 defeat in Vienna.
All is not lost, with Das Team four points behind the Scots and the teams above them set to take points off each other in the next fixture, but they will need to ensure they secure a win here before they can start thinking about that playoff spot.
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Team News
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Rene Joensen has served his suspension for a red card during the narrow loss to Denmark and is now back available for the Faroe Islands.
He will likely come straight into the starting XI at left-back with Viljormur Davidsen absent from the squad.
Austria have a long list of injury issues, with goalscorers Arnautovic and Baumgartner having withdrawn from the squad due to injury, along with Valentino Lazaro, Philipp Lienhart and Aleksandar Dragovic.
Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic was also not called up so Foda's source of goals is not totally apparent.
With group leaders Denmark to come in three days, some players may be rested for this game, with Stefan Ilsanker and Florian Grillitsch the most likely candidates considering they are one yellow card away from a suspension.
Faroe Islands possible starting lineup:
Nielsen; Rolantsson, Faero, Nattestad, Joensen; S Vatnhamar, Hansson, Andreasen, G Vatnhamar, M Olsen; Edmundsson
Austria possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Trimmel, Posch, Hinteregger, Ulmer; Kainz, Laimer; Schaub, Sabitzer, Alaba; Gregoritsch
We say: Faroe Islands 0-2 Austria
While Austria have been struggling and the Faroe Islands exceeding expectations, we expect the extra quality in the Austrian squad to see them to a comfortable enough victory.
After all, the hosts' four points in the group have all come against bottom nation Moldova, and they will be desperate to keep pace with their rivals for second place.
Top tip
James Mackenzie
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Austria win with a probability of 53.52%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Faroe Islands had a probability of 22.76%.
The most likely scoreline for an Austria win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.76%) and 0-2 (9.34%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.25%), while for a Faroe Islands win it was 1-0 (6.49%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Austria would win this match.
