Graz Carry Strong Form Into Tirol Trip

WSG Tirol finished seventh in last season’s regular league season and dropped into the relegation group, where they eventually placed fifth out of six to survive by a narrow margin. The club brought in several free agents during the summer, including midfielder Husin Balic. However, last season’s top scorer, midfielder Valentino Muller, has left, so the burden of scoring will fall more heavily on centre-forward Frederiksen.

Graz finished first in last season’s regular season but had to settle for second place after entering the championship group. In the summer they signed defenders Jelan Micov, Petar Petrovic and Nelson Wibi. Last season’s top scorer, attacking midfielder Otar Kiteishvili, remains with the squad and continues to be the key man in their push for points.

Neither Tirol nor Graz has any reported injuries or suspensions for this match.

Tirol had more defeats than wins in their pre-season friendlies, though they did record a big win in their last cup match and their form appears to be gradually improving. Even so, this is a stern test against stronger opposition. Graz showed strong attacking power in cup action during pre-season and will hope to overturn last season’s league trend, when they lost both meetings with Tirol. Having already come through several competitive matches, Graz also look the sharper side and are favoured to take a straightforward away win.

In the last six meetings between the two sides, Graz have won four and lost two. Tirol won the previous meeting 1-0, and that last encounter produced eight corners.