Austria will welcome Marko Arnautovic back to the fold for Monday's Euro 2020 clash with Ukraine after the forward served his one-match suspension in the 2-0 defeat to Netherlands.
The 32-year-old, who spent several seasons in the Premier League with West Ham United and Stoke City before moving to Shanghai Port in China two years ago, celebrated in demonstrative fashion after scoring from the bench against North Macedonia.
Prior to confirmation of UEFA's ban for "insulting another player," his manager Franco Foda had suggested Arnautovic was set to start against Netherlands, citing fitness concerns as the main reason for him being left out of his starting XI.
After a limp offensive performance against Frank de Boer's side on Thursday, then, it would be extremely surprising not to see arguably their most talented forward start in attack in such a crucial game against Ukraine.
Sasa Kalajdzic, who enjoyed a superb season at Stuttgart, could be restored alongside him after Christoph Baumgartner and Michael Gregoritsch failed to impress against an Oranje outfit hardly renowned for defensive stability.
There have also been concerns regarding Das Team's back three, particularly regarding Foda's preference for a high defensive line, but given that a draw against Ukraine would be highly likely to see them progress to the knockout stages, the 55-year-old may consider it to be too risky to dramatically change anything at this stage of the proceedings.
Austria possible starting lineup: Bachmann; Dragovic, Alaba, Hinteregger; Lainer, Laimer, Schlager, Sabitzer, Ulmer; Kalajdzic, Arnautovic
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