Two teams who suffered contrasting fortunes on matchday one of the Champions League lock horns at the Red Bull Arena on Tuesday evening, as FC Salzburg play host to Brest.
The Austrian champions kicked off their campaign in disappointing fashion, crashing to a 3-0 defeat away at Sparta Prague.
Pepijn Lijnders’ side have since dropped points domestically, drawing 0-0 with WSG Tirol, though they did get back on track with a 2-0 victory over Austria Vienna at the weekend.
The Red Bulls will be looking to carry that momentum onto the continental stage when they take on Brest in their maiden Champions League home match of the season this midweek.
The Pirates announced their arrival at Europe's top table by defeating Sturm Graz 2-1, with forward Abdallah Sima’s goal proving decisive.
Domestically, Eric Roy’s side have endured a difficult start to the season, losing four of their opening six Ligue 1 games of the season, the most recent of which saw them fall to a 3-0 defeat away at Auxerre on Friday night.
How the bookies view it: Red Bulls to get win
FC Salzburg are firm 3/4 favourites on Betano to bank their first three Champions League points of the season on Tuesday evening.
Brest are big outsiders at 16/5 (Betano) as they look to make it back-to-back wins in this season’s Champions League, while an all square affair can be backed at 14/5 (Betano).
Head to head: History book blank
FC Salzburg and Brest will do battle for the first time ever on Tuesday evening.
The Red Bulls did come up against Ligue 1 opposition during the group stage of the 2021-22 Champions League campaign, where they defeated Lille 2-1 at this venue.
Players to watch: Camara could lose focus
Mahdi Camara committed no fewer than five fouls during Brest’s 2-1 win over Sturm Graz, collecting a yellow card in the process. Thus, the fiery Frenchman looks worth backing to give away two or more free-kicks on Tuesday evening at 7/5 on UniBet.
Oscar Gloukh grabbed both goals in Salzburg’s aforementioned 2-0 win over Austria Vienna on Saturday, and the highly-rated 20-year-old looks overpriced to notch here at 12/5 (UniBet).
Predicted line-ups
Salzburg will be unable to call upon the services of injured duo Maurits Kjaergaard and Fernando .
Brest duo Bradley Locko and Pierre Lees-Melou are likely to remain sidelined having missed Friday night’s loss at Auxerre due to injury.
FC Salzburg: Blaswich; Van der Brempt, Piatkowski, Baidoo, Terzic; Bidstrup, Bajcetic, Clark; Nene, Yeo, Gloukh
Brest: Bizot; Lala, Le Cardinal, Chardonnet, Haidara; Magnetti, Fernandes, Camara; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Sima
Anything else catch the eye?
Salzburg look a little too skinny to support at the above-mentioned price, but backing the home team to score two or more goals looks worthy of interest at 4/5 on William Hill.
The Red Bulls have scored at least twice in three of their four home games this season, one of which was against FC Twente during qualification.
While Brest bagged three points from their Champions League opener, they did fail to keep a clean sheet, not to mention they have leaked multiple goals in four of their six Ligue 1 outings this season to date.
This UEFA Champions League match between FC Salzburg and Brest will be played on Oct 1, 2024 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best FC Salzburg vs Brest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
