🔊 Which team will advance to the Champions League playoff round? This stage precedes the main phase of the tournament. The losing side will enter the Europa League, which is still quite significant. However, Red Bull Salzburg and Club Brugge have frequently found themselves in Europe's premier club competition in recent years, so they won't settle for less. We'll explore various scenarios to deliver an insightful prediction. It's worth noting that the match will take place in Salzburg, at the Red Bull Arena.

Head-to-Head

📊 The head-to-head history features two matches. The opponents clashed in the 2018/2019 Europa League Round of 32. Back then, Club Brugge secured a comeback victory at home (2-1), but on the road, they conceded four unanswered goals, all in the first half.

RB Salzburg Team Overview

🔴 For two consecutive years, Salzburg have conceded the Austrian Bundesliga title to Sturm Graz. This time, the margin was a mere two points. The "Bulls" barely had a break; in June, they competed in the Club World Cup in the USA but only reached the group stage, finishing third in their group and falling one point short to Al-Hilal. Salzburg managed to play in the Austrian Cup, thrashing Dietach 4-0, and kicked off their national league campaign with a draw against Ried (2-2), equalizing during stoppage time. Notably, in both matches, the team played with a man down.

⚪️ Red Bull Salzburg entered the Champions League qualifiers at the second round, facing Brann, who took an early lead at home and even won the first half. However, the Austrian side emerged transformed after the break. They not only equalized and took the lead but also secured a convincing victory in the closing minutes (4-1). In the return leg, Salzburg surprisingly ceded control but still achieved a favorable result (1-1), with both teams exchanging goals by the sixth minute.

Club Brugge Team Overview

🔵 Club Brugge finished as runners-up in the national championship last season, trailing Union Saint-Gilloise by just three points. These teams have already clashed for the Belgian Super Cup, which the "Blue-Black" secured with a 2-1 victory. Despite conceding early, Christos Tzolis and Hans Vanaken turned the game around for Brugge by halftime.

⚪️ Club Brugge are making their debut in the Champions League qualifiers. By now, they've already played two matches in the domestic league. Their start was promising with a 2-1 win over Genk, although they conceded early once again. However, they managed to equalize midway through the second half and found enough time to score a second goal. Last weekend, Brugge dropped their first points, falling to Mechelen (1-2). Conceding early goals is becoming an unsettling trend for the vice-champions.

Latest news

RB Salzburg

🎙 Red Bull Salzburg's head coach Thomas Letsch is pleased that the team has advanced to the next round of the Champions League qualifiers and promises to address the reasons behind numerous mistakes in the second leg: "The main goal in such a qualifying round is progress, and we've achieved that. We must admit that our first half was inconsistent, and the second half was unfortunate. Overall, we still have room for growth. On one hand, we can tick the box, but on the other, we need to carefully analyze why we couldn't pull ourselves together today and made so many errors. Ultimately, the game wasn't great. Matches like this happen – we're moving on to the next round, and that's the most important thing."

📝 Oscar Gloukh was not listed for the second leg against Brann, and following the match, it was announced that the Israeli national team player is transferring to Ajax. Red Bull Salzburg parted ways with their key asset for 17.25 million euros, including bonuses. Literally the next day, they signed Henri Chase, who played 12 matches for Stuttgart last season. He could have featured more if not for an injury at the end of the season.

❌ Salzburg still have quite a few injured players. In the upcoming match, Takuma Kawamura, Justin Omoregie, Valentin Sulzbacher, Karim Konate, Moussa Yeo, John Mellberg, as well as newcomer Henri Chase will be unavailable.

Club Brugge

🎙 Club Brugge's head coach, Nicky Hayen, believes their loss to Mechelen shouldn't have happened: "It's a bit reminiscent of the start of last season and also last week. We just don't start sharply enough. The desire to win in the last 30-35 minutes is stronger than in the first 60, and this mindset needs to be there from the opening whistle. We guide the players, but it also has to come from them and through coaching. Sometimes it works very well, as we saw in the second half, but we need to maintain this attitude for much longer."

📝 During the offseason, Club Brugge sold Maxim De Kuyper and Kemsdin Talbi to the Premier League for €40 million. Most of that revenue has already been spent by the club. It's surprising then that they refused to sell Ardon Jashari to AC Milan for €33.5 million, excluding bonuses. However, the Swiss player hasn't been included in any matchday squad, so negotiations are likely ongoing.

❌ In the upcoming fixture, Kyriani Sabbe and Gustav Nilsson will be unavailable due to injuries sustained during pre-season. It also seems unlikely that Ardon Jashari will feature.

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

The main referee for the match is Srdjan Jovanovic (Serbia). Last season, he officiated 13 matches in the national league, averaging 3.92 yellow cards per game with 30.15 fouls. In the current season, he issued six cautions in the Novi Beograd vs. Čukarički match. In the previous Champions League campaign, he officiated just one match, handing out four yellow cards.

This season, Red Bull Salzburg have the edge in yellow cards (2.3 compared to 1). Their matches average 5.5 cautions, while Club Brugge's games see an average of 3.7. Considering the referee's statistics, we suggest betting on a total of over 3.5 yellow cards.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

Red Bull Salzburg are known for their attacking style, yet their player quality in recent years has not been top-tier, making goals in the Champions League hard to come by—no more than one in six home matches. Club Brugge are a Champions League-caliber team; they reached the Round of 16 last season, eliminating Atalanta. Therefore, a potential bet could be on Red Bull Salzburg scoring under 1.5 goals.

🚩 Corner Prediction

This season, Salzburg have an advantage in corners (9 compared to 6). Their matches average 10.5 corners, while Brugge's average slightly less (10). This suggests a bet on over 9.5 total corners in the upcoming match.

There's no clear favorite in the upcoming clash, though Club Brugge are given a slight edge due to their experience. A concern is their tendency to concede regularly, but their response to going behind suggests they could come out on top, possibly with a scoreline of 2-1.

This season, Club Brugge have played three official matches and conceded within the first 15 minutes in each one. Salzburg would do well to capitalize on this early vulnerability. The hosts are likely to score, having found the net in all but two of their last 22 matches. On the flip side, Club Brugge have scored in 22 of their last 24 away games, making our key bet both teams to score (yes). This bet has come through in five consecutive matches involving the Belgian side.