| 2.5 Goals (o -128 \/ u +104)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Odds above courtesy of FanDuel as of June 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austria’s Current Form<\/h3>\n\n\n\nRoster cohesion is a tough thing to monitor in international soccer because players and managers are constantly on the move at the club level. A quick look at Austria’s roster wouldn’t suggest that there is too much synergy between players, but anyone that has followed this squad knows that couldn’t be farther from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do energy drinks and soccer have in common? The answer is Ralf Rangnick. Austria’s manager was named Director of Football at Red Bull in 2012, and his preferred style of high-pressing play spread from the Austrian Bundesliga (Red Bull Salzburg) to the German Bundesliga (RB Leipzig) to the international stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A manager and team inspired (and funded) by an energy drink corporation plays exactly the way you think it would: A feverish press that forces turnovers and looks to create as many transition scoring opportunities as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several players on this Austrian squad have risen through the Red Bull academies and now play at some of the top clubs in Europe. When they rejoin the Austrian national team, they know exactly how Rangnick wants to play. During World Cup qualification, Austria tied with Spain for most possessions won in the opponents’ third of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attacking midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who has 19 international goals for Austria and is a student of Rangnick’s teachings RB Leipzig, will miss this match with a thigh injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austria beat Tunisia and South Korea by identical 1-0 scores in the two friendlies leading up to this tournament. During qualification, Austria maintained a 64.2-percent possession rate and that number will likely be higher in this matchup against Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jordan’s Current Form<\/h3>\n\n\n\nBaumgartner’s injury will be important to monitor as Austria progresses in this tournament, but perhaps no team is dealing with more injury concerns than Jordan entering this event. Ibrahim Sabra, Yazan Nue\u2019imat and Adham Qurashi are all expected to miss this tournament, and that trio was projected to be Jordan’s primary attacking unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nue\u2019imat scored four goals in seven matches for Jordan in the Asian Cup, while Sabra is quickly climbing the European club ranks at Lokomotiv Zaghreb. For a team that was already lacking firepower on offense, those absences are a major storyline for Jordan heading into this opening match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Austria vs Jordan Prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are interested in Austria to keep a clean sheet. Aside from the injury concerns to Jordan’s attack, the Jordanians are going to struggle to maintain possession in this contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Austria’s final tune-up against Tunisia, Konrad Laimer got a red card in the 37th minute and the Austrians had to play 10 vs 11 for the final hour of the match. Not only did Austria win that match 1-0, they maintained 59-percent of the possession in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jordan is likely going to have very few scoring opportunities in this matchup. At the time of posting, Austria to keep a clean sheet<\/strong> is available at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Caesars -115<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- BetMGM -115<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- FanDuel -118<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DraftKings -125<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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