The Red Bull Arena will host a battle of the Austrian Bundesliga and English Championship on Saturday afternoon, when Red Bull Salzburg and Sheffield Wednesday lock horns for a pre-season friendly.
Die Roten Bullen are well into their summer itinerary as they prepare for Austrian Cup action next week, whilst the Owls are ramping up preparations for the start of their league campaign in August.
Match preview
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After dominating possession of the domestic crown for an entire decade between 2014 and 2023, Red Bull Salzburg relinquished control of the Austrian Bundesliga title at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, finishing two points behind champions Sturm Graz following a tense end to the term.
As a result, Die Roten Bullen will need to qualify through the preliminary rounds in Europe to book a spot in this season's revamped Champions League, a competition in which the Austrian powerhouses were knocked out of at the group stage in 2023, finishing bottom of a section containing Real Sociedad, Inter Milan and Benfica.
Renowned for nurturing exciting young talent who often go on to test themselves in the German Bundesliga, Red Bull Salzburg have another potential superstar in the form of 20-year-old Karim Konate, with the Ivory Coast international bagging 20 league goals in just 29 appearances last campaign.
Looking to regain control of the Austrian title following a drop in performances, Die Roten Bullen have moved during the off-season to secure the managerial services of former Liverpool assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders, who helped the Reds to Premier League and Champions League glory under the leadership of legendary boss Jurgen Klopp.
With a first-round Austrian Cup tie against second-tier Dornbirn scheduled for next Friday, Salzburg commenced their pre-season plans in late June and are unbeaten in four friendly matches so far this summer, including an 8-1 battering of SV Kuchl and a 2-2 draw with Czech giants Sparta Prague.
Although only as part of pre-season, Sheffield Wednesday fans will cherish watching their side face off against Champions League opposition on Saturday afternoon, considering that the Yorkshire club's situation could have been significantly poorer ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Rooted to the bottom of the Championship standings near the start of last term, the Owls benefited enormously from their decision to appoint Danny Rohl as manager in October, with the German leading an unlikely survival push for a team who appeared dead and buried alongside Rotherham United.
In the end, 22nd-placed Birmingham were sentenced to League One football despite collecting 50 second-tier points, meaning that Wednesday had to be exceptional to avoid the drop, with the Owls winning four and drawing two of their final six matches to finish in 20th.
Looking to avoid a repeat of a stress-inducing relegation battle this time around, Rohl's men have operated decisively during the first half of the summer window to recruit nine new or returning faces, including Manchester United academy graduate Charlie McNeill on a free transfer.
Wednesday have endured a mixed start to pre-season in terms of results, with Saturday's visitors beating non-league outfit Alfreton Town 2-0 on July 6 before suffering a 3-0 defeat to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in a behind-closed-doors fixture earlier this week.
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Team News
RB Salzburg are without the services of goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, with the RB Leipzig loanee recovering from a shoulder injury sustained earlier in the month.
Die Roten Bullen's options in between the sticks are limited further due to the absence of Alexander Schlager, so either Timo Horn or youngster Jonas Krumney will start in net.
Daouda Guindo featured for Mali in World Cup qualifiers during June but has since picked up a foot injury, meaning that the left-back will play no part this weekend.
There are also goalkeeping concerns for Sheffield Wednesday ahead of Saturday's clash, with new arrival Ben Hamer picking up an injury during the early stages of pre-season.
As a result, James Beadle is likely to start in goal for the Owls at Red Bull Arena, where the Brighton youngster will be making his second debut for Wednesday after spending the final half of last season on loan at Hillsborough.
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Krumney; Dedic, Piatkowski, Blank, Mellberg; Capaldo, Diambou, Kjaergaard; Amankwah, Yeo, Ratkov
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Ihiekwe, Famewo, Valery, Johnson; Paterson, Shipston, Bannan, Gassama, Musaba; Windass
We say: Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
With competitive action just days away, Salzburg should be nearing full fitness and will be confident of easing past second-tier opposition on home soil.
Sheffield Wednesday face another tough assignment following the match at Brighton earlier in the week, and we believe that the Owls' summer trip will begin with defeat.
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 59.39%. A draw had a probability of 20.5% and a win for Sheffield Wednesday had a probability of 20.07%.
The most likely scoreline for a Red Bull Salzburg win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.5%) and 1-0 (8.03%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.27%), while for a Sheffield Wednesday win it was 1-2 (5.36%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 3.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Red Bull Salzburg would win this match.
