Republic of Ireland v Austria: Team news, predictions & odds

The qualifying clash in European Group D kicks off at 1700 BST at the Aviva Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1. 

Azerbaijan v Northern Ireland match pack contents
1. Republic of Ireland v Austria team news
2. Republic of Ireland v Austria manager quotes
3. Republic of Ireland v Austria betting tips
4. Republic of Ireland v Austria Opta facts

Republic of Ireland v Austria: Team news 

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill is keeping his fingers crossed after Jonathan Walters sat out training just four days before the World Cup qualifier against Austria.

The 33-year-old Stoke striker was not involved in an open training session at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday morning because of a knee problem picked up earlier in the week.

O'Neill will hope there is no lasting damage with Ipswich forward David McGoldrick having already left the camp - also with a knee injury - to join Shane Long on the casualty list.

That has left him with only Walters, who scored in Sunday's 3-1 friendly victory over Uruguay, and Newcastle's Daryl Murphy as options to lead the line, although in-form winger James McClean has been used in that role in the recent past.

Walters has played much of his football for Ireland as a wide midfielder, but missed the majority of his country's Euro 2016 finals campaign with an Achilles problem.

The Republic are desperate to complete a double over the Austrians to cement their place as joint-leaders of Group D alongside Serbia, who entertain Wales later the same evening. 

Republic of Ireland v Austria: Manager quotes

Martin O'Neill (Republic of Ireland)

On rumours of disharmony in the Austria camp: "I've got to tell you this, I really do take that with a pinch of salt because so many times down throughout the years, situations like that seem to develop and it's exactly the opposite when you get on to the field of play.

"Despite the fact that they didn't cover themselves in glory in the Euros themselves, their qualification was really, really fantastic, so I thought they would have a point to prove starting off in the World Cup qualification games.

"They have probably dropped a couple of points that they maybe didn't expect - maybe all three against us, which was not on the agenda. They were strong favourites that night and that was only a few months ago, so they might be disappointed with their haul of points at the moment.

"They have to come and probably try to win the game themselves to get into it and really it is up to us to try to keep that points differential between us, so I think it's all to play for.

"I still think they are a top-quality nation." 

On David McGoldrick: "David McGoldrick has had a niggle behind his knee which has come on a little bit.

"He has had a scan and we are just waiting for the results of that. But it is niggly and he is a bit concerned about it."I would say he's in doubt, yes."

On Cyrus Christie: "They're obviously big shoes to fill and Cyrus has always done well for us. In many aspects, he's unlucky that someone as brilliant as Seamus is in front of him.

"But he took himself off as well too to get physically fit before we even met up [for a training camp] in Cork. Credit to him, he's desperate to do well.

"I thought he was excellent today, and he was one of our better lights in the game against Mexico." 

On the victory against Uruguay: "If I'm not going overboard about Mexico defeat, I'm not wallowing in this. It's nice to win against Uruguay, but everything is just preparation mentally and physically for the game on Sunday.

"In a nutshell, we've got to go forward against Austria - I don't want to be sitting here regretting that we haven't done that. We're on the front foot, we've got to be on the front foot from the start of the game." 

Marcel Koller (Austria)

On Andreas Ulmer missing out because his wedding is this weekend, as reported by The Irish Sun: "I cannot understand that. If you are on call, you have to be ready. If someone is injured, they can’t be at the pool in Mauritius.

"This is a public call to the players, which is a damn important game, we have to be ready and focused from the first minute of the camp.

"It’s important that everyone thinks about what they want, and if they want to be part of the national team, it means having a red-white-red heart with a lot of passion.

"You have to prepare yourself mentally or say ‘I do not play in the team’ There is only one option – being at full throttle for Austria.” 

Republic of Ireland v Austria: Betting tips

1pt draw/Republic of Ireland in HT/FT at 9/2 - the game should open up after a cagey first half 

The Republic of Ireland are unbeaten at home in nine straight qualifiers and are in a strong position in Group D, level on points with Serbia who face Wales later in the evening.

They have already beaten Sunday's opponents Austria, who failed to live up to expectations at Euro 2016, with James McClean scoring the only goal of the game in Vienna although it did come against the run of play. 

The Republic warmed up for this contest with a comprehensive 3-1 defeat of Uruguay (bouncing back from a less impressive display against Mexico) and will be confident of justifying favouritism and cementing their position in the group.  

Click here for Ian Ogg's full preview!

Republic of Ireland v Austria: Opta facts

The Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 win in Austria in November was their only previous away victory over them on the international stage. 

The last time the Republic of Ireland hosted Austria was in March 2013, a 2-2 draw at the Aviva Stadium with Jonathan Walters scoring twice. 

Heading into this round of fixtures, only Cristiano Ronaldo (38) and Josip Ilicic (26) have had more shots than McClean (24) in qualifying so far. 

David Alaba has created more chances than any other Austrian player so far in qualifying (15), with three of those leading to assists. 

Martin O’Neill is yet to lose a home qualifying match as manager of the Republic of Ireland (W5 D3). 

In fact, the Republic of Ireland haven’t conceded a goal in any of their last five home qualifiers. 

Only Slovakia (29y 96d) and Moldova (29y 118d) have named an older starting line-up on average than the Republic of Ireland in this qualifying campaign (29y 54d).