Rapid Vienna II vs Floridsdorfer

Austria Vienna II host Floridsdorfer for this Austrian 2. round 17 battle at Stadion Miejski at Allianz Stadion very early Saturday morning Beijing time. This is the second-highest level of Austrian football and is not of not of high level by European standards. The difference compared to the first level is substantial. Floridsdorfer are the better team by pure class - there is no denying this fact. However, with today's expected lineups I cannot agree with the biggest, usually somewhat sharp bookies that offer the biggest betting limits. These bookies see the visitors as favorites - offering them odds of around 2.50 to take all three points. The odds on the hosts have – totally understandably – came down significantly from the starting odds. Floridsdorfer currently occupy the 5th place in the standings with 27 points to their account. However, they have been lucky in quite a few games this season. Indeed, their number of expected points is just 23.21. They have netted the ball 23 times in this league this season so far. Indeed, their offense has not really convinced me this season. Their number of expected goals is much lower though. The hosts have also scored 23 goals and the visitors will not have an edge in this area of the game in this match. Their offense lacks creativity, speed and individual skill – especially compared to the top-2 teams. St. Pölten, the current leaders, who have netted the ball 31 goals and BW Linz, who have scored 38 goals! The visitors defense has been pretty solid and they have conceded 16 goals so far in this league. However, I want to highlight that their number of expected goals allowed (xGA) is much higher - 20.16 to be precise. This is the first match after the winter break. During this break both teams played several friendlies. I was not able to watch all the games but did receive extensive match reports.  I do not give too much emphasis on the friendlies in general. However, I want to mention that the hosts have won three of their most recent matches. They crushed TWL Elektra 4-0, beat Traiskirchen 4-2 and defeated Donaufeld Wien 1-0. These wins surely boost their self-confidence!

The hosts did not lose any of their latest three games in this league before the break – winning 2/3 matches. On the 13th of November, right before the break, they easily beat Austria Vienna II at home 2-0. They do have a good home crowd and whilst the home advantage in this league on average is not particularly high by global standards we must give this factor enough emphasis here! The hosts had just 53% ball possession and recorded 13 scoring attempts – the visitors' number was just five. Rapid Vienna II also recorded many more shots on goal - 8. They shut down the visitors' offense in an impressive way and Rapid Vienna II only managed one shot on target! Before this they faced First Vienna away from home and took a point as underdogs according to the betting market. As a whole they were slightly the better team on the pitch for the most of the 90 minutes. They have just 17 points in the pocket but I do expect them to climb up the standings as the season progresses! They can improve in all areas of the game and I do trust their often undervalued coach. Floridsdorfer were not in particularly good shape before the break.. They, in fact,  won just 1/5 games and could easily have lost more than one of these five matches. !They took the only win on the 11th of November 2-1 at home over Horn. The match was a balanced one and could easily have gone either way. Lastly I want to mention that according to a well-known and respected source, Transfermarkt.com, the hosts' squad is valued at around 4.33 million euros. The visitors' players, on the other hand, have a total value of a little less – 4.15 million to be precise.