Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Bet Builder Tips: 33/1 shot fancied

Pachuca, the oldest football club in Mexico and the runners-up of last season’s Club World Cup, get their competition underway as they face Red Bull Salzburg at the TQL Stadium in Ohio (23:00 BST, DAZN). They lost 3-0 to Real Madrid in last year’s edition, and the new expanded competition realistically rules out the chance of them ever reaching another final. 

Below you can find my Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Bet Builder Tips, as we search for another winner. 

Red Bull Salzburg to win

I was interested to see the parity in the odds ahead of this match, with a paper-thin margin between the two teams according to the bookies. I don’t see it that way at all. Pachuca have been underwhelming ever since losing to Real Madrid last summer, and I think that is likely to continue in this Club World Cup. 

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They only finished eighth in the Clausura, scraping into the play-offs, where they were comfortably beaten in the quarter-finals by Club America. Those league performances suggest that they are some way off the elite sides in their own division right now, let alone competitive on the world stage. 

They’ve unsurprisingly made a managerial change too, as Guillermo Almada was replaced by former Mexico national team boss Jaime Lozano - but his stock is low as he failed to get Mexico out of the group stage at last year’s Copa America. 

Pachuca Club World Cup Preview

So all in all, Pachuca are a bit of a mess at the moment, and while Red Bull Salzburg are perhaps fortunate to be here due to Fifa’s two-team limit on nations, they should prove their European pedigree. They were hammered in the Champions League this term, as they lost seven games out of eight by two goals or more and finished 34th in the group phase, while they also only managed a third-place finish in the Austrian Bundesliga in the regular season. 

However, despite all that they should still be able to beat Pachuca in this opener. They’ve had some time off to recover, and won their last two outings. I’ll back the Austrians in this one.

Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Odds

Dorgeles Nene to score

I’m going to back Salzburg to win this game, so it also makes sense to back one of their forwards to bag a goal. They were handed a body blow when Karim Konate ruptured his ACL in November, and I believe that has impacted them hugely this season. Who knows how much better off they would have been had he stayed fit. 

They’ve been trying to find the right number nine in his absence, but in terms of goals, it has been wide man Dorgeles Nene who has stepped up to the plate. The left winger has scored with 15 goals in all competitions and is now the star of this Salzburg team. I believe he can find the net against a struggling Pachuca outfit. 

Pedro Pedraza and Oussama Idrissi to get carded

A couple of Pachuca players to get booked rounds off my Bet Builder, as they seem to be a fairly ill-disciplined outfit. 11 players have picked up four yellow cards or more this season, and the two I have picked out here lead the way. 

Pedro Pedraza is a tough-tackling holding midfielder who is always up for the fight. He’s managed to accumulate 11 yellows in 36 appearances and he’s been booked three times in his last five outings. He’s the best value selection, but we’ve taken it one step further with Oussama Idrissi. 

You wouldn’t usually select a wide midfielder to get booked, but Idrissi has made a habit of it lately. He’s got 10 yellows this campaign, but six of those have come in his last 12 appearances. He’s got as many cards as assists so far in 2024/25, and I think offers brilliant value to get booked here. 

Bet Builder pays 33/1

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