Football Bet of the Day: Klagenfurt clash will be fun

Israel must go for it

Austria v Israel
Friday 12 November, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

From the moment Liechtenstein's Jens Hofer did his best Karate Kid move on Leon Goretzka, giving away a penalty and being sent off, we knew that last night's bet was in trouble. With 11 men, the visitors might have given Germany some problems, but with ten from the ninth minute onwards, they put up little resistance in a 9-0 defeat. Agonisingly, it only became 6-0 with 15 minutes left, so we had hope for a while.

We'll jump over the border to Austria now, because Franco Foda's strugglers are up against Israel, and at 1.774/5 in the Match Odds market they seem too short.

Austria impressed at EURO 2020, reaching the last 16 and pushing eventual champions Italy to extra time at Wembley before eventually slipping under the wheels of Roberto Mancini's blue juggernaut. However, this World Cup qualifying campaign has been a disaster, and Foda is under serious pressure.

Austria lost home and away to Denmark (no shame in that, as the Danes have won all of their matches), they were hammered 5-2 in Israel, and they took just a point from their two games against Scotland. If you look at their last three home games including friendlies, they haven't scored a single goal.

Israel's hopes of making the top two suffered a serious blow last month, as they blew a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 in Scotland. They realistically need a win here to have any chance of securing a playoff spot.

It's that imperative that makes me think there'll be goals here, and Over 2.5 Goals actually seems attractively priced at 1.758/11. That bet has paid out in Israel's last six qualifiers, and at some stage, they are going to have to chase the game. I'm also tempted to lay Austria at 1.774/5, as they have been so poor in these qualifiers, and they can't make the top two. However, I'll go for the goals angle here.