Football: St. Pölten Stands in the Way of Rapid Vienna in the ÖFB Cup
With Sturm Graz, Rapid, and WAC, three of the top four teams in the Austrian Football Bundesliga are challenged in the Austrian Cup on Wednesday - by quite unpleasant opponents. Sturm wants to emerge from a mini-slump after two consecutive competitive defeats at second division runner-up Admira (6:00 PM), Rapid aims to prolong its slight upward trend at second division leader St. Pölten (8:30 PM/both live on ORF 1). WAC plays in Amstetten, and Ried visits Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz (both at 7:00 PM).
Full House in St. Pölten
After five consecutive competitive defeats, Rapid successfully worked on the green-white nerves with the recent 2-0 victory in Ried. "Extremely important. A first step in the right direction," captain Matthias Seidl breathed a sigh of relief on behalf of the entire team. "We can take courage and self-confidence with us, and we want to show that again on Wednesday," said the 24-year-old before the duel in the NV Arena, which is sold out for the first time in many years with 8,000 spectators. St. Pölten awaits with confidence - despite the 1-3 defeat last Friday at Liefering. In the 10 season matches before that, they celebrated 9 wins with 1 draw.
Rapid Vienna Without Hedl?
Rapid coach Peter Stöger was pleased about "a bit of calm," and as in Ried, Paul Gartler could again feature in goal for Niklas Hedl. "You have to take the pressure off him once," Stöger explained the change. One who will unexpectedly be there is Thomas Sageder. According to plan, the assistant coach should have been in Qatar with Austria's U17 at the World Cup as part of the coaching staff, but he changed his mind given the demanding situation at Rapid. "It shows how important the development with the club is to him," Stöger explained.
Sturm Against Admira
For Sturm Graz, somewhat worn out by the English weeks, the appearance at Admira after the defeats against Celtic Glasgow and WAC will be a test of endurance. The last time they suffered three consecutive competitive match defeats was in October 2021, when they lost four in a row. To prevent this from happening again, coach Jürgen Säumel hopes for an energetic performance like in the second half of the 1:3 against WAC. Once again, Säumel will consider personnel changes, with rotation being the order of the day. "Everyone will get their chance," emphasized Säumel.
WAC in Amstetten
WAC travels to Amstetten with confidence. The success at Sturm was also the first under new coach Peter Pacult, and they aim to continue in this manner in Amstetten. However, before the duel with the Lower Austrians, WAC is warned. The current fourth in the second league has had a solid season so far, celebrating only four victories in eleven matches but also suffering only one defeat.
Ried vs. Bregenz
Bundesliga newcomer Ried is rarely confronted with the role of favorite in the current season. In Bregenz, however, there is no way around it for the Upper Austrians, as the Vorarlbergers are at the bottom of the second league and have not gone beyond five draws so far. A good opportunity for the two-time cup winner (1998, 2011) from the Innviertel to prove their reputation as cup specialists.
(APA/Red)
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