ÖFB Cup ticker

Conference: Rapid, LASK, Austria from 18:15 LIVE

Rapids Dion Beljo, LASK player Rene Flecker, Austrias Dominik Fitz (from left)

(Bild: GEPA)

Round of 16 in the ÖFB Cup! Three matches involving Bundesliga teams will kick off at 6.15pm: Stripfing against Rapid, Voitsberg against LASK and Horn against Austria. We will be reporting live in the conference (see ticker below).

Here is the live ticker:

Rapid don't have to travel far. The match against SV Stripfing will take place at Hohe Warte. The Austria cooperation club usually plays in Vienna-Favoriten, but it was clear after the riots in the recent derby that the game could not take place there.

This will be Rapid's 22nd competitive match of the season and coach Robert Klauß has announced rotations. Louis Schaub, who is back in full training after suffering a concussion, is also available. Rapid II players such as Thierry Gale and Jakob Schöller could also "become an issue", according to Klauß. Last year's finalists should have put the 1:1 draw at GAK behind them. "The competition is very important to us, the chance to show a good performance again and the clear goal of reaching the next round."

Austria on a high
The city rivals are on a high after their advance to third place, which should also continue in the Waldviertel. SV Horn are only 13th in the table in the 2nd division behind Stripfing, and the roles are clearly distributed in Austria's favor here as well. "We have to keep up now. We have two very important games this week," said coach Stephan Helm with an eye on the league match against Blau-Weiß Linz. Striker Nik Prelec was already looking further ahead. "If we carry on like this, good things can still happen this season," said the Slovenian.

Little rotation at LASK
LASK set their sights on promotion in Voitsberg at the bottom of the 2nd division. Markus Schopp announced that he will be counting on his regulars. "We won't rotate that much, the personnel doesn't allow for that at the moment. It's important to bring more clarity to the mechanisms," emphasized the Linz coach. Rene Poms will make his second appearance for GAK in the west. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have had a good season so far, winning the most recent clash in spring 3-0 in their promotion season. "It's clear that we want to progress to the next round. It's simply a matter of having the best possible team on the pitch that can do that," said Poms.