Preview: Red Bull Salzburg vs SK Brann - prediction, team news, lineups

Red Bull Salzburg have a comfortable lead ahead of the second leg of their Champions League Second Qualifying Round tie with SK Brann on Wednesday night.

The Austrian giants lead 4-1 from the first leg in Norway last week, as Thomas Letsch’s side rallied in the second half to thrash Freyr Alexandersson’s men at Brann Stadion.

Match preview

After trailing until just before the hour mark, it was a late fightback that has put Salzburg in complete control of this tie with 90 minutes still to play.

A quick-fire double around the hour turned the match on its head after Brann had led at half time, and late efforts from Yorbe Vertessen and Maurits Kjaergaard now means Salzburg have one foot in the third round.

After competing in the Club World Cup over the summer, Salzburg have hardly been afforded much time off over the summer, but they did not look leggy in the first leg, especially after the interval.

The hosts are seeking to reach the Champions League proper for a seventh season in succession, despite failing to win the Austrian Bundesliga title again last season, coming second behind Sturm Graz once more.

Salzburg needed to go through two rounds of qualifiers last year to make it to the league phase, beating Twente and Dynamo Kyiv, but this time around they will need to navigate three rounds, with one already seemingly ticked off.

A routine cup win over Dietach at the weekend was just what Letsch’s men needed too in what is going to be a busy summer schedule, with the Bundesliga season getting underway at the weekend against Reid.

Brann are already halfway through their season, which runs from spring to autumn, but a slight blip in league form has coincided with their inevitable exit from the Champions League.

Alexandersson’s men are more than likely going to drop into the Europa League now, and potentially even further into the Conference League, a competition they have failed to progress through qualifying for in both of the last two seasons.

Brann only need to win one of their qualifying ties this summer to be sure of playing league phase football of some variety, it just looks a long shot that it will be the Champions League now.

The visitors did not play in the Eliteserien at the weekend, with the league allowing them time off to focus on their qualifiers, but they will now probably be keen to have their fixture postponed in a couple of weeks time, in between two legs of a potential Europa League Third Qualifying Round tie.

Red Bull Salzburg Champions League form:

Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):

W W

SK Brann Champions League form:

SK Brann form (all competitions):

L W D W L L

Team News

Salzburg will remain without injured trio Moussa Yeo, Karim Konate and Takumu Kawamura on their return to Austria for their first home match of the new season.

Three of their goals last week came from substitutes, so after trailing until the hour, Letsch could ring the changes for the second leg, or rotate to keep his strongest XI fresh for the next round.

Salzburg have not been overly active in the transfer market yet this summer, but 17-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic has arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, and made his debut as a late sub in the first leg, before scoring at the weekend.

Despite the heavy defeat, Brann could be unchanged from the first leg, especially up front, where Saevar Atli Magnusson was handed his first start and scored the opener in the first half.

Eivind Fauske Helland set up that goal for Magnusson, but the defender will be suspended for Brann’s league encounter at the weekend, so this will be his only opportunity to play before the next round of qualifiers.

On the injury front, Niklas Castro, Sakarias Opsahl, Jonas Torsvik and Fredrik Knudsen are all missing at present for Brann.

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Schlager; Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Kratzig; Nene, Bidstrup, Kjaergaard, Gloukh; Vertessen, Onisiwo

SK Brann possible starting lineup:

Dyngeland; Pedersen, Fauske Helland, Sery Larsen, Soltvedt; Kornvig, Sorensen, Myhre; Mathiasen, Magnusson, Gudmundsson

We say: Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 SK Brann

With the tie all but over, Salzburg can relax slightly while not getting too complacent, but they should still have the quality to win on the night, even if Letsch decides to rotate slightly.

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