Austria Tipico Bundesliga betting tips and odds

If you want to bet on a sport, you must know its ins and outs. The leagues, the teams, the players… New information never stops pouring in, and it can be a bit overwhelming. That’s why we here at Betting Fellow are making these league overviews. None of them will instantly make you know everything there is to know about a country’s football, but they can act as a sort of cheat sheet to get you started.

We’re continuing our overview of European professional football leagues with the Austrian Football Bundesliga.

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Austrian Football Bundesliga History and General Info

This is the top-tier national league in Austria, and it consists of the 12 biggest and most successful association football teams in the country. And yes, we realise that the name is a bit of a mouthful and will be annoying to repeat throughout this article – but it is important to note that most top-tier national sports competitions in Austria are dubbed Bundesliga, and it is just as important to differentiate it from its somewhat more famous cousin in Germany.

This league ranks as the twelfth best national league in Europe, as per UEFA’s association coefficient rankings. It reached the 16th position at the end of the 2015-16 season, which means it also gained its first spot for the UEFA Champions League the next year.

It is currently known as the Tipico Bundesliga, due to a sponsorship deal with the bookmaker Tipico.

The first efforts towards creating a unified national league in Austria began at the very start of the 20th century. The efforts resulted in the introduction of the first Austrian football championship in 1911. The very best teams at the time competed as parts of the First Class, as part of the same championship.

From 1924, the league was considered professional and changed its name to the First League. It is also important to note that Austria is officially a federation of 9 states. Back in the day, only teams from Lower Austria – the state of Vienna and its surroundings – were allowed to compete. This lasted to 1937, after which the league was elevated to a truly national level. At this point, the Austrian Football Association was responsible for how the Austrian Football Bundesliga was run and managed.

The second half of the 20th century saw Austrian football divided over many issues, such as representatives of amateur and professional clubs not agreeing on how the Austrian Football Bundesliga should be managed. As such, the current format of this league, and its status as the undisputed highest level of football in the country, did not come about until 1974.

In 1991, the league was reconstituted as a federation, meaning they were largely independent of most of the other levels of the competition. They are still part of the Association, only they carry their own responsibilities as a separate entity.

A typical championship year is divided into two smaller seasons: an autumn season and a spring season. Typically, all of this lasts from July to June next year.

The Austrian Football Bundesliga has a fairly standard format. The 10 teams each play every other team twice, once on home ground and once away. They are then ranked based on acquired points, where every game won awards a team 3 points, and a draw game awards only 1.

At the end of the season, the team with the least points is relegated to the Second League (Currently known as the Sky Go Erste Liga).

The best-placed team is named Austrian champion and qualifies for the UEFA Champions League along with the runners-up. The 3rd and 4th placed teams enter the qualification rounds for the Europa League, along with the winner of the Austrian Cup.

The most decorated team in the history of the Austrian Football Bundesliga is Rapid Wien with 32 titles and 26 second places. Behind them is Austria Wien with 24 titles and 19 runner-up positions, followed by Red Bull Salzburg with 13 titles.

The overall top scorer throughout the league’s history is Hans Krankl, who played for several teams throughout his career. He is an extremely prolific striker with 270 goals over 361 appearances. Next in line is Ivica Vastić with 187 goals over 441 appearances.

The record for most appearances instead goes to Heribert Weber with an impressive 579 matches total.

Austrian Football Bundesliga Title Challengers

Austrian Bundesliga betting holds little surprises for newcomers. Salzburg have dominated the standings for a full decade now, and this favourites in this league tend to stay on top. That said, betting on Bundesliga matches requires you to be at least familiar with how the teams match up to each other. Let’s take a look at some outright betting odds as a first step.

Nothing says “dominating” like 1.062 odds on a championship title – and that’s what top online bookies are pricing Salzburg at. With that in mind, markets such as Top 3 Finish might be more interesting as far as outright bets go. In this case, there’s a bit more competition. Rapid Wien, LASK, and Wolfberger have the strongest chances of making it to the Championship Round. Additionally, FK Vienna are considered traditional favourites, and Sturm Graz are looking strong going into the 2020/21 season.

FC Red Bull Salzburg

Salzburg have won every single championship title since 2013. Even before that, they mostly had a few runners-up positions mixed in with winning seasons. To call them favourites in the Austrian Bundesliga is an understatement, and betting against them is generally a bad idea. Though they’ve gone through several changes in management over the past few years, they snagged a double under Jesse Marsch.

They employ a rather interesting strategy centred around relatively low possession, which goes against most current trends. They instead focus on using their midfielders for transitional movements and rapid counter-attacks. It should come as no surprise, then, that their biggest players are midfielders. These include Dominik Szoboszlai, Enock Mwepu, and team captain Antoine Bernede.

Their star striker Hee-Chan Hwang left for Leipzig over the summer, but there are plenty of attackers in line to fill his position. In terms of fresh arrivals, the biggest one is likely centre-back Oumar Solet.

Rapid Wien

Rapid are traditionally one of Austria’s strongest teams, but they haven’t been able to snag the title since Salzurg’s rise to prominence. Recent history places them firmly as the number 2 team in the country – though they have little hope of moving up to number 1. They also took 2nd place in the previous season, as one might expect. Going into 2020/21, all evidence hints at the fact that they’ll rank the same again. Their tactics are often seen as the opposite of Salzburg’s approach. They use intense possession-based attacks to build up pressure, with a deep defensive line at the back. With that in mind, they have a versatile, flexible lineup with names such as striker Taxiarchis Fountas, defensive midfielder DejanLjubičić, and left-back Maximilian Ullmann. This seems to offer a solid enough defence – except when they’re up against Salzburg, which often has disastrous consequences. Not a lot was done by coach Kühbauer over the summer in terms of transfers. A few players went out on loan, but nothing that will notably impact the starting 11.

LASK Linz

If the Bundesliga outright betting odds are to be believed, Linz are Austria’s third-best team right now. They’re still riding the crest of a comeback from the lower leagues in 2017, though, so it's hard to call them consistent. LASK recorded a 4th place finish last season, though this was in part due to a 4-point penalty. Apparently, they partook in illegal training during the suspension brought around by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was just enough to push them below Wolfberger’s 35 points.

Anyway, LASK stand out as one of the defensively stronger teams in the Bundesliga. With just 20 concessions over the regular 2019/20 season, even Salzburg had trouble reliably scoring against them. This is in part thanks to goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, who is easily the most valued player on their roster. The backline is further bolstered by standout players such as team captain Gernot Trauner and centre-back Philipp Wiesinger.

Their transfer record was equally quiet over the summer, with less than half a million spent on new arrivals. These include midfielder Mads Emil Madsen and centre-back YevgenCheberko.

Wolfsberger AC

We’ll round this list out with a wildcard contender, relatively speaking. Wolfsberger snagged the 3rd spot in the standings last season after Linz lost their penalty points. This was a major upset as most experts saw Wolfsberger as a middle-of-the-table sort of team. Some excellent performances ensured the best results they’ve seen so far.

Shon Weissman was the most prolific goalscorer in the 2019/20 season, though he left the team for Real Valladolid. His boots as the club’s main striker will be difficult to fill. So far, it’s on Dejan Joveljić, who’s on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolfsberger made several other updates to their roster in anticipation of facing down Austria's best. These arrivals include centre-forward Dario Vizinger and centre-back Dominik Baumgartner.

Austrian Football Bundesliga Relegation Favourites

On the flip side, these are some teams considered most likely to be relegated into the second tier of the Austrian league system.

SV Ried

The Austrian Bundesliga is a league with many well-entrenched teams. It should come as no surprise, then, that the only team to be promoted last season is favoured for relegation. Ried are working with a minuscule budget compared to some of the other teams in the standings, which is usually a bad sign.

They’ve done what they could and scrambled to beef up their lineup before the season kicks off, though. No less than 6 changes were made to their starting lineup, including the team captain. This makes it hard to reliably make betting predictions, though.

WSG Tirol

Tirol ended up dead last in the relegation play-offs last season. They only managed to stay in the Bundesliga because SV Mattersburg declared bankruptcy over the summer. Either way, things aren’t looking great for Tirol. Financial issues have been obvious for years now, and many fans still question if they are top-flight material. Considering almost no changes were made compared to last year’s disaster, you shouldn’t expect too much from them.

Austrian Football Bundesliga Top Players

Another important thing you need to consider for Austrian Football Bundesliga betting is the individual players – this can give you a solid idea of a team’s playstyle, which can be key information depending on the market you decide to go for.

Maximilian Wöber

An Austrian native, Wöber first rose to prominence in Ajax and Sevilla, distinguishing himself as a young defender full of potential. He came back home last season, and played a big part in Salzburg conceding only 34 goals throughout 2019/20.

Wöber was instrumental in Ajax’ successes in the international theatre, and he continues to be vital in Salzburg. Although the team’s strikers often get most of the fans’ praise, they wouldn’t get far without the reliable backs supporting them.

Alexander Schlager

LASK’s young goalkeeper, Schlager is the Austrian Bundesliga’s most distinguished goalie. He plays for the Austrian national team as well and has been turning a lot of heads. We’ve mentioned it above, but Schlager's success warrants another note: Linz had the least concessions in the league last season. This is one of those artful goalkeepers that grabs your attention despite playing a passive role.

Noah Okafor

One of Salzburg’s many assets is the fact that they often have several options when picking a starting 11. This makes their strategy next to impossible to predict. This young Nigerian left-winger has proven time and time again that he is an important part of the team’s goal-scoring machinery. He has one of the highest appearance rates on the team, which is impressive considering his competition.

Austrian Football Bundesliga Rising Stars

Now we’ll turn attention to the some of Bundesliga’s most promising young talent. These players are all great in their own right, but we’re predicting that their time is yet to come.

Dominik Szoboszlai

At only 19 years of age, this Hungarian midfielder can already boast a double Austrian championship as part of Salzburg’s squad. He was pushed into the spotlight near the end of the 2018/19 season when he scored three times despite very limited time in the pitch. Szoboszlai is described as lightning-fast, with an exceedingly powerful kick and great vision. He was given more time to shine in 2019/20, and he proved that the trust wasn’t misplaced with 9 goals and 14 assists for a 2.26 overall PPG.

Karim Adeyemi

There is no shortage of attacking talent in Salzburg – here we have another player who checks all the boxes: a young, talented centre-forward who is only projected to keep getting even better. Adeyemi is only 18, but is already in the crosshairs of teams like Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He gets very little time in the pitch, unfortunately, due to fierce competition in the attacking department. Still, the but scout reports are already singling him out as a future powerhouse.

Austrian Football Bundesliga Derby Matches

Wiener Derby

This derby is probably the biggest of its kind in Austria, and is the matchup between the two biggest teams from the capital of Vienna: FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien. Although their glory days are behind them, these are still the most decorated teams in Austria’s history, making for some very exciting matches.

Support today is mainly split along geographical lines: the northern and western parts of Vienna are Rapids’, while the city’s couth is synonymous with FK Austria. However, historically speaking this rivalry has some sociological underpinnings, which explains its importance to Austrian football culture. Namely, Rapid was founded as the “Worker’s Club” of Vienna, leaving Austria as the “bourgeois” team.

In a similar fashion, a lot of Austria’s cities have their own city derbies. These include the Graz derby between Grazer AK and Sturm Graz, the Linz Derby between FC Blau-Weiß Linz and LASK Linz, and several smaller ones.

Austrian Football Superliga Best Stadiums

Red Bull Arena

Also known as the EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim and, during UEFA club football event, as Stadion Salzburg. This is, somewhat predictably, the home ground of Red Bull Salzburg. It was opened in 2003 and can host just over 31,000 spectators.

Allianz Stadion

This stadium was built on the site as the old Gerhard Hanappi Stadium to be the new home of Rapid Wien. To comply with UEFA’s sponsorship regulations, it also sometimes uses its non-commercial name Weststadon. Construction started in 2014 after a ceremonial demolition of Rapid’s previous home and was finalised in 2016. The Allianz Stadion can house 28,000 people.