RB Leipzig vs Red Bull Salzburg Predictions

Thursday brings a historic occasion; the first ever competitive Red Bull derby. The two sides who had their success built by the energy drink giant meet for the first time, in what should be an interesting encounter. The pair have landed in a really tricky group, which includes Celtic and Rosenborg. Will the two Red Bulls storm through to the next round? While they’ll want to go through together, the pair are fighting it out for points this week.

Leipzig had their first ever season in Europe last time out, as they played in the Champions League group stage, and followed up with a Europa League knockout run. They had some success in the back half of the campaign, but their quarter-final exit to Marseille was looked upon as a missed opportunity. Leipzig are trying to build something and European success could do that. While they missed out on Champions League football last term, they can look to further their European history by contending for the Europa League trophy.

Red Bull Salzburg are pretty well experienced at this level, but the Austrian champions aren’t entirely happy about this trip. Their goal had been to make a push for the Champions League group stage, the elusive goal which they consistently can’t meet. This time around they went out to Red Star Belgrade at the very last hurdle, after an impressive run through the qualifying rounds. Will Salzburg be able to make up for their shortcomings with Europa League success?

Like Leipzig, Salzburg came up short against Marseille in this competition last season. They were beaten in the semis by the Ligue 1 side, again a missed opportunity for the club. The failure to build on that great run by making the Champions League group stage is huge, and it’s got to be worrying for the visitors. Not only did they come up short in Europe’s top competition, but they’ve been beaten in back to back away games in this one.

Salzburg lost at Marseille and Lazio towards the end of their Europa League run last term. They meet a Leipzig side who would consider themselves at least on the same level as those two teams. The hosts have managed to put together some brilliant form in this competition, winning five straight home matches. With that in mind, we think the hosts are great value for the win on Thursday, while we’re backing a 2-1 success for Leipzig.