Red Bull Salzburg will be looking to secure an advantage when they welcome Brondby to Austria for the first leg of their Champions League playoff clash on Tuesday night.
Brondby qualified for this round of the competition by winning the Danish Superliga last term, while Salzburg also made the playoffs by finishing at the top of their domestic league in 2020-21.
Match preview
Salzburg, as mentioned, won the Austrian Bundesliga for the 15th time last season, which allowed them to directly qualify for the playoff round of the Champions League, and they will be looking to play in the group stages of the competition for the third season in a row.
The Red Bulls failed to make it out of Group A last term, finishing third, which saw them drop into the Europa League, and they were beaten by eventual winners Villarreal in the round of 32.
Salzburg also failed to make it out of their group in 2019-20 before again losing in the last-32 stage of the Europa League, and it has been tough for them to make a serious impression in Europe despite their recent domination of Austrian football.
Matthias Jaissle's side have made a strong start to their 2021-22 domestic season, recording four wins from four matches to rise to the top of the table, already five points clear of second position.
Salzburg will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Admira on Saturday, but this will be their first Champions League fixture since losing 2-0 at home to Atletico Madrid in last season's group stage.
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Brondby, meanwhile, won the Danish Football Championship for the first time since 2005 last season, which saw them to automatically qualify for the playoff round of the 2021-22 Champions League.
Drengene fra Vestegnen have not played in the group stage of the Champions League since 1998-99, when they featured alongside Bayern, Barcelona and eventual winners Manchester United.
This contest will be Brondby's first Champions League fixture of any kind since 2005, meanwhile, and it will be fascinating to see how the club match up to Salzburg over the two legs of the playoffs.
Niels Frederiksen's side have made a very disappointing start to their domestic season, picking up just three points from five matches, which has left them down in 10th position in the table.
Brondby will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Nordsjaelland on Friday, and they will be desperate to stay in the tie ahead of the second leg at home on August 25.
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Team News
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Salzburg's team is expected to have a similar look to the one that started against Admira in the league on Saturday, but there could be a change in the final third with Noah Okafor in line to start.
Nicolas Capaldo is also pushing to be involved, but Sekou Koita, Albert Vallci, Mergim Berisha and Zlatko Junuzovic are all expected to miss the contest through injury.
Brenden Aaronson operated in a central position against Admira in the league last time out and that could again be the case here, with Mohamed Camara featuring at the base of the midfield.
As for Brondby, Blas Riveros will miss the contest through injury, while Sigurd Rosted and Josip Radosevic are doubts for the visitors ahead of kickoff.
The Danish outfit will definitely be without Christian Cappis, Mathias Greve, Tobias Borkeeiet and Thomas Mikkelsen, as all four players have recently tested positive for coronavirus.
It is expected to be an attacking lineup from the away side, though, with Andrija Pavlovic, Mikael Uhre and Simon Hedlund set to feature in a forward area.
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Kristensen, Solet, Wober, Ulmer; Camara, Capaldo, Seiwald, Aaronson; Okafor, Adeyemi
Brondby possible starting lineup:
Aegidius; Gammelby, Maxso, Tshiembe, Bruus; Corlu, Ben Silmane, Mensah, Hedlund; Uhre, Pavlovic
We say: Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 Brondby
Brondby's domestic form this season is difficult to ignore, and they will enter this match off the back of two disappointing defeats. Salzburg, on the other hand, have made a strong start to the campaign, and we fancy the Austrian outfit to record a comfortable 2-0 victory in the first leg on Tuesday night.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Red Bull Salzburg win with a probability of 55.6%. A draw had a probability of 22.9% and a win for Brondby had a probability of 21.53%.
The most likely scoreline for a Red Bull Salzburg win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.87%) and 2-0 (9.42%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.81%), while for a Brondby win it was 0-1 (5.92%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Red Bull Salzburg would win this match.
