Sturm Graz vs LASK Linz Prediction: Survival of the fittest

In the deciding match of the Austria Bundesliga, Sturm Graz and LASK Linz will square off against one another at Merkur-Arena. Sturm Graz is now in second place, while LASK Linz is currently in third place heading into this matchup with a four-point gap between the two teams. 

After suffering a 3-2 setback to Rapid Vienna in their most recent Bundesliga match, Sturm Graz won't want to see a recurrence of the previous result here. During that game, Sturm Graz had 49% possession of the ball and 12 shots on goal, with 5 of them finding the target. Manprit Sarkaria in the 10th minute and Otar Kiteishvili in the 33rd minute were the ones to find the back of the net for Sturm Graz. Twelve shots were taken at the Rapid Wien goal, but only four of them were on target. Rapid Vienna got goals from Guido Burgstaller in the 40th minute, Roman Kerschbaum in the 45th minute, and Marco Grull in the 66th minute. In recent times, matches featuring Sturm Graz have frequently been entertaining affairs, with a high number of goals being a consistent feature of these contests. Sturm Graz is responsible for 14 of the 23 goals that have been scored by both sides during their last six contests, which works out to an average of 3.83 goals scored per game. Their historical performance demonstrates that Sturm Graz have failed to emerge victorious against LASK Linz in any of their most recent four league encounters.

In their most recent match, LASK Linz prevailed over Austria Vienna by a score of 3-1 in the Bundesliga. They will bring that momentum into this contest. During that match, LASK Linz had 54% control of the ball and 15 shots on goal, with 9 of those shots hitting the target. Keito Nakamura in the 4th minute, Marin Ljubiic in the 80th minute, and Moses Usor in the 90th minute were the LASK Linz players who scored goals. Twelve shots were taken at the Austria Wien goal, but only two of them were on target. Dominik Fitz scored the goal for Austria Vienna in the 48th minute. Taking a look at their recent form, we can see that LASK Linz have conceded goals in 5 of their previous six matches, with their opponents scoring a total of five goals against them. When we take a look at the results they've gotten in the past, we see that LASK Linz have not suffered a defeat at the hands of Sturm Graz in either of the last two league encounters that were played away from home. Meanwhile, they are unbeaten in their past eight matches played away from their home stadium in the league.

Sturm Graz and LASK Linz have met 39 times in previous seasons, with Sturm Graz winning 16 games and LASK Linz winning 14 games. In the head-to-head matchups between the two teams, Sturm Graz scored 61 goals, while LASK Linz only managed to score 50.

After analyzing each side's scoring potential, we anticipate that there will be goals scored in this matchup. In the meantime, I anticipate this to be a tight battle, and I think it will end in a tie score of 2-2.