England Women will be hoping to kick off their Women’s Euro 2022 campaign with a win when they take on Austria Woman on Wednesday in the competition opener.
Following their elimination at the semi-final stage at Euro 2017, England will be looking to win their first major trophy this summer.
However, before they can focus on the latter stages, Sarina Weigman’s side must go through a group that feartures Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland.
Weigman won the 2017 competition as manager of the Netherlands, and she will be fully aware that with a tricky encounter against Norway awaiting her side on matchday two, they need to begin with a victory on Wednesday.
The Lionesses carry significant momentum into the competition after winning their last six games by an aggregate 30-2 scoreline. They also have recent experience of facing Austria after beating them 1-0 in World Cup Qualifying last November, and the Lionesses would be content with picking up a similar scoreline in the group opener on Wednesday.
Like their hosts on Wednesday, Austria also reached the semi-finals in 2017 before losing on penalties to Denmark.
After reaching the final four in their major competition appearance, Irene Fuhrmann’s side may be looking to go deep into Euro 2022.
However, ahead of them is an uphill task to progress from a group that features two sides ranked higher than themselves in the form of England and Norway.
Austria can at least take confidence from their recent performances after winning seven of their previous eight matches, while scoring 33 goals across those seven victories.
Picking up a positive result on Wednesday may prove to be a tall order for Austria, but they can take inspiration from the fact that in their debut tournament in 2017 they never lost a match inside 90 minutes.
England Women vs Austria Women head to head
The two teams have previously met on seven occasions across all competitions, where England have claimed victory in all the encounters, while scoring 22 goals and conceding just once in the process. In their last meeting, England claimed a 1-0 home win in the World Cup Qualifying in November 2021.
England 3-0 Austria 25/03/10
Austria 0-4 England 21/08/10
England 3-0 Austria 10/04/17
Austria 0-3 England 08/11/18
England 1-0 Austria 27/11/21
England Women latest home form
England have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their nine most recent matches. They managed to defeat Netherlands 5-1 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded just three.
England 1-1 Canada 17/02/22
England 0-0 Spain 20/02/22
England 3-1 Germany 23/02/22
England 3-0 Belgium 16/06/22
England 5-1 Netherlands 24/06/22
England Women latest away form
England have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Switzerland 4-0 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 39 goals and kept clean sheets.
Luxembourg 0-10 England 21/09/21
Latvia 0-10 England 26/10/21
North Macedonia 0-10 England 08/04/22
Northern Ireland 0-5 England 12/04/22
Switzerland 0-4 England 30/06/22
Austria Women latest home form
Austria have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Montenegro 4-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 21 goals and conceded just three.
Austria 5-0 Luxembourg 22/10/21
Austria 3-1 Northern Ireland 08/04/22
Austria 8-0 Latvia 12/04/22
Austria 1-2 Denmark 12/06/22
Austria 4-0 Montenegro 22/06/22
Austria Women latest away form
Austria have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Belgium 1-0 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 18 goals and conceded just two.
Englang 1-0 Austria 27/11/21
Luxembourg 0-8 Austria 30/11/21
Romania 1-6 Austria 20/02/22
Switzerland 0-3 Austria 23/02/22
Belgium 0-1 Austria 26/06/22
England Women news
Weigman has named Leah Williamson as England’s captain for the competition, and the 25-year-old is expected to feature in midfield on Wednesday.
Newly-signed Barcelona player Lucy Bronze is set to slot in at right-back, while striker Ellen White will be given the responsibility to lead the line at Old Trafford.
Austria Women news
Austria’s Laura Wienroither and Manuela Zinsberger will come up against a number of their Arsenal teammates, with the pair set to be included in the starting lineup.
Viktoria Schnaderbeck, who was recently released by Arsenal is set to feature in the backline, while Nicole Billa will be one of the main goal threats.
Prediction and Odds
We expect Austria to put up stubborn resistance as they will be confident after winning each of their four most recent away matches.
However, we think that the extra quality within the England squad will prevail to begin the campaign with a victory and extend their winning run to seven matches.
Odds: 1 1.88 X 2.00 2 2.20
Probable outcomes
England 1-0 Austria
England 2-0 Austria
England 2-1 Austria
England 3-1 Austria
England 4-1 Austria
