Wolfsberger host Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League on Thursday with both sides looking to remain in the top two positions of Group K come the final whistle.
Dinamo Zagreb beat the Austrian outfit 1-0 in the recent meeting between the two sides.
Match preview
© Reuters
Wolfsberger are competing in the Europa League group stages for the second successive season, having only qualified for the competition for the first time in the club's history in the 2015-16 campaign, when they were eliminated in the playoff round by Borussia Dortmund.
After being placed in an extremely tough group alongside Roma, Borussia Monchengladbach and Istanbul Basaksehir last season - and taking only five points on their way to finishing bottom of the group - they were a little more fortunate this time around with Feyenoord, CSKA Moscow and Dinamo Zagreb.
After gaining a respectable draw with CSKA on the opening matchday, Ferdinand Feldhofer's side stunned keen observers of the competition by winning 4-1 at Feyenoord before losing to Dinamo Zagreb last time out.
Should they gain revenge on their opponents on Thursday, however, the Austrian side will move top of the group and move one step closer to qualifying for the knockout stages of European competition for the first time in the club's history.
Dinamo Zagreb are more seasoned veterans in European football, having qualified for the Champions League group stages in five of the last ten seasons.
The Croatian champions also reached the last 16 of this competition in the 2016-17 season, agonisingly losing to Benfica after extra time.
As such, it is perhaps little surprise to see them topping the group having remained unbeaten in their opening three games. In Bruno Petkovic, who has six goals in 13 caps for Croatia, they have one of the more proficient strikers in the competition and one who could be a threat in the latter stages should they progress.
However, there is a long way to go before their fans can think about that, with Zoran Mamic's side only one point ahead of Feyenoord and their forthcoming opponents. A win on Thursday would certainly be a huge step towards progressing, though.
Wolfsberger Europa League form: DWL
Wolfsberger form (all competitions): DLWWLW
Dinamo Zagreb Europa League form: DDW
Dinamo Zagreb form (all competitions): WDDWWL
Team News
© Reuters
Matthaus Taferner is suspended having been sent off in the previous meeting between the two sides, with Jonathan Scherzer likely to come into the side.
Guram Giorbelidze (abductor), Alexander Kofler (coronavirus), and Marko Soldo (coronavirus) are all unavailable, too, so Manuel Kuttin will almost certainly start in goal.
Mamic, meanwhile, appears to be in the enviable position of having no injury or suspension concerns ahead of travelling to Wolfsberg.
Wales Under-21s midfielder Robbie Burton, who joined the club from Arsenal earlier this year, will be hoping to earn a start.
Wolfsberger possible starting lineup:
Kuttin; Novak, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Pavelic; Stratznig, Wernitznig, Scherzer, Peretz; Dieng, Joveljic
Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:
Zagorac; Moharrami, Lauritsen, Peric, Gvardiol; Jakic, Franjic, Ademi; Gavranovic, Petkovic, Orsic
We say: Wolfsberger 1-2 Dinamo Zagreb
We expect a closely-fought encounter in Wolfsberg, with Petkovic, Mislav Orsic and Mario Gavranovic perhaps proving to be the difference at the top end of the pitch for the visitors.
The hosts are without their first-choice goalkeeper due to coronavirus, which also puts them at a serious disadvantage.
Top betting tip
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 Wolfsberger win with a probability of 35.36%. A win for Dinamo Zagreb had a probability of 33.78% and a draw had a probability of 30.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolfsberger win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (6.97%) and 2-1 (6.87%). The likeliest Dinamo Zagreb win was 0-1 (13.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 0-0 (13.54%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood.
