Preview: Mjallby AIF vs Red Bull Salzburg - prediction, team news, lineups

Mjallby AIF welcome Red Bull Salzburg to Strandvallen on Thursday evening for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League final qualifying round clash.

In their most recent outing, Gulsvart claimed a crucial 4-3 victory over Allsvenskan leaders Sirius, while Die Roten Bullen beat WSG Tirol 3-0 at Tivoli Stadion Tirol.

Match preview

After a historic 2025 Allsvenskan campaign in which they finished 13 points ahead of second place Hammarby, Mjallby lifted their maiden league title and as a result secured a place in this season’s UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds.

Facing Gibraltarian side Lincoln Red Imps in the first phase, Gulsvart claimed a convincing 3-0 aggregate victory, but following a crushing defeat to Slovan Bratislava in the next round, the Swedish outfit have dropped down to the Europa League for the first time ever.

However, despite claiming an impressive 4-3 win against league leaders Sirius last weekend, Karl Marius Aksum’s men return to their European endeavours in dismal form and after 16 Allsvenskan matches, sit just four points above the relegation places in 11th.

Having never faced an Austrian side before, claiming victory would create history on Thursday evening for Mjallby, who will undoubtedly be looking to bring back the feel good factor and take a priceless advantage into next week’s second leg.

Following a run of 10 successive triumphs, RB Salzburg missed out on the Austrian Bundesliga title for a third consecutive campaign in 2025-26 and as a result are competing in the Europa League qualifying stages for the first time in 11 years this season.

Entering the competition at the third qualification round, Die Roten Bullen progressed to this stage by overcoming last season’s Champions League debutants Pafos FC, sealing a 1-0 win in the first leg before coming from two goals down away from home to draw 3-3 and book their place in the final playoff tie.

Hoping to fight for silverware once again in this coming year, Danny Rohl’s men have made a much improved start to their domestic 2026-27 campaign too, claiming seven points from their opening three Bundesliga matches to sit third in the league table and progressing to the OFB Cup round of 32 with a pulsating 7-1 victory over SV Oberwart.

Although they have never before faced Mjallby, RB Salzburg will be hoping that they can use their promising start to the season to rectify their poor recent record when playing in Sweden, having lost on each of their previous two visits, both of which were 3-0 defeats away to Malmo FF.

Mjallby AIF form (all competitions):

Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):

Team News

Having not made an appearance since May, the hosts remain without Finnish forward Timo Stavitski, though it is expected the 27-year-old will return from his back injury later this month.

Amongst the outgoings for Mjallby are 21-year-old striker Abdoulie Manneh, who has joined Cercle Brugge on loan and midfielder Elliot Stroud, who has made the move to Premier League side Hull City.

Justin Omoregie and Anrie Chase both remain sidelined for RB Salzburg with thigh injuries, while Enrique Aguilar and Stefan Lainer are expected to return from hand and heel problems respectively within the next fortnight.

It remains to be seen whether Soumaila Diabate, Edmund Baidoo or Gaoussou Diakite will play a part on Thursday evening, with the trio all picking up recent knocks.

Over the previous week, Die Rotten Bullen have also lost Aleksa Terzic to Frosinone and French midfielder Lucas Gourna-Douath to Hull City, banking £6m in total for the pair.

Mjallby AIF possible starting lineup:

Wallinder; Iqbal, Svanberg, Pettersson; Granath, Gustavsson, Gustafson, Hoffmann; Kjaer, Bergstrom, Samuelsen

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Zawieschitzky; Veratschnig, Boma, Zabransky, Schmid; Barry, Vertessen, Mazurek; Kitano, Tabakovic, Redzic

We say: Mjallby AIF 1-1 Red Bull Salzburg

Following a disappointing start to the season, Mjallby will be hoping to bounce back in emphatic fashion by putting one foot in the main Europa League tournament on Thursday evening.

However, facing a RB Salzburg side who posses quality and recent experience of playing on the continent, we think that the Swedish outfit will struggle to take an advantage into next week's second leg.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.