Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Red Bull Salzburg and Go Ahead Eagles, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to pick up a first victory, Red Bull Salzburg are back on Europa League duty with a home assignment against Go Ahead Eagles at the Red Bull Arena on Thursday evening in the fourth round of group-stage matches.
The home side were narrowly beaten 3-2 by Ferencvaros in matchday three, while the visitors pulled off a shock win over Premier League outfit Aston Villa.
Match preview
Sitting top of the Austrian Bundesliga with 24 points from 12 matches so far, Salzburg have made an impressive start to their league campaign but are yet to replicate their domestic success in the Europa League.
Thomas Letsch‘s men suffered a last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Porto in their opening group-phase match on September 25, seven days before losing 2-0 to Lyon in their sophomore assignment.
Die Roten Bullen finally got themselves on the scoresheet against Ferencvaros, albeit all to no avail, as they came away empty-handed from a fifth straight continental assignment dating back to their two-legged Champions League playoff tie against Club Brugge.
Unsurprisingly, Salzburg currently find themselves 34th in the standings. While there is plenty of time for the Austrian giants to get themselves back on track, their abysmal record of 10 defeats from the last 11 group-stage matches in UEFA competitions hardly gives cause for optimism.
Thursday’s hosts are also without a win in nine consecutive European home matches, but head into their upcoming assignment on a run of three victories on the bounce across all competitions.
In stark contrast to their next opponents, Go Ahead Eagles have fared well in Europe this term. However, their league form has been underwhelming after a 1-0 defeat to NAC Breda on Saturday saw them lose for a third time in five domestic outings.
Before their recent defeat in Breda, Melvin Boel‘s men had been on a run of back-to-back wins, the first of which was a memorable comeback 2-1 triumph against Aston Villa to secure a second straight European victory.
With six points picked up from three matches, Go Ahead Eagles are 12th in the standings, outside the automatic playoff places only on goal difference ahead of their trip to Salzburg.
While the upcoming clash will be the first between Go Ahead Eagles and Salzburg, teams from the Netherlands have generally found it difficult against the Red Bull outfit, with just three wins from 13 previous clashes.
Having conceded the opening goal in seven of their last nine matches, Thursday’s visitors will be wary of being caught out early on once again but will take confidence from the fact that both of their last two continental victories have been from behind.
Red Bull Salzburg Europa League form:
Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):
Go Ahead Eagles Europa League form:
Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):
Team News
Takumu Kawamura, John Mellberg and Karim Konate are all nursing knee issues, ruling them out of contention for Salzburg.
Mads Bidstrup and Karim Onisiwo are also unavailable due to muscle problems, while Valentine Sulzbacher and Justin Omoregie remain sidelined with ankle and Achilles tendon injuries respectively.
Nineteen-year-old Edmund Baidoo has racked up a direct goal contribution in each of his last five matches, making him one to keep an eye on for the home side.
Gerrit Nauber is set to miss a third straight match for Go Ahead Eagles with a niggling injury problem, and he is joined on the sidelines by Pim Saathof.
Victor Edvardsen and Soren Tengstedt are also unfit to feature, while Jakob Breum‘s involvement is hanging in the balance after he came off injured in his side’s last continental affair.
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Schlager; Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Kratzig; Diambou, Diabate; Kitano, Yeo, Alajbegovic; Ratov
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Busser; James, Kramer, Twigt, Deijl; Linthorst, Goudmijn, Meulensteen; Margaret, Smit, Suray
We say: Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Despite all of Salzburg’s struggles in Europe lately, they will fancy themselves to get the better of a vastly inexperienced Go Ahead Eagles outfit at this level.
While we are expecting a close contest, we are backing the home side to just about do enough to emerge triumphant at the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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