Red Bull Salzburg vs Club Brugge Prediction: Bulls on parade as Champions League beckons

Red Bull Salzburg play host to Club Brugge this Wednesday (18:00) in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The first leg takes place at the imaginatively-named Red Bull Arena in Salzburg. Inspired.

The home side got past SK Brann of Norway to reach this stage. Brugge meanwhile enter at this stage having come second in the Belgian Champions play-offs last season.

Here are my Red Bull Salzburg vs Club Brugge predictions ahead of this first leg clash.

Team News

Oscar Gloukh will be sorely missed. The 19-year-old winger was the latest starlet off the Salzburg production line. He joined Ajax earlier this summer.

Of the players still on the books, there are a number of notable absentees. Karim Konate is still on the sidelines from his ligament tear in November. Japan international  Takumu Kawamura misses out with a knee injury, as does Moussa Yeo. Anrie Chase, the defender signed from Stuttgart this summer, will not be available for several weeks due to an existing adductor issue.

Football Odds

Brugge’s midfield standout Ardon Jashari is yet to feature for them this season, having been the subject of extensive transfer interest. The 23-year-old is the subject of a bid from AC Milan that was reportedly accepted on Tuesday night. Chances are he will not be involved against Salzburg as his move to Serie A is wrapped up.

Striker Gustaf Nilsson is sidelined for the visitors with an Achilles tendon problem. 20-year-old defender Kyriani Sabbe is also expected to miss out.

Red Bull Salzburg vs Club Brugge Odds

It really is a close one, this. Salzburg are priced at 6/4 with Brugge marketed at the same price. Given the perceived level of these teams, many punters will be casting an eye towards the draw, which is 23/10.

Red Bull Salzburg to win and both teams to score @ 10/3

Not one for fence-sitting, I am going to stick my neck out and pick a first leg winner here. Red Bull's incomings have been modest, certainly more modest than those of the opposition. Salzburg got Chase, Bayern Munich’s Franz Kratzig, Jacob Rasmussen from Brondby and secured the return of club favourite Stefan Lainer for less than the reported fee Brugge paid for Inter midfielder Aleksandar Stankovic.

But I think more of Brugge’s essence has been lost than Salzburg’s in the vagaries of the transfer window. Maxim de Cuyper is a big miss after his summer move to Brighton. 20-year-old winger Chemsdine Talbi joins him in the Premier League after his move to Sunderland. Goalscorer Ferran Jutgla, once of Barcelona, has also departed for Celta Vigo.

Salzburg usually get their recruitment bang-on. It is safe to assume their new faces will acclimatise a bit more quickly than Brugge’s, which I think will hand the Austrian side a victory on the night.

But I do fancy both teams to find the net. Brugge scored the most goals in both the regular season and championship phases of the Jupiler Pro League last season. They have not been kept out since April, when they drew with Union Saint-Gilloise in the Belgian Cup.

Christos Tzolis to score anytime @ 2/1

The Greece international is best-remembered as a flop by many English fans, after managing just one goal in two seasons with Norwich City. But after bagging 22 league strikes in 30 games for Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2023/24, Brugge took the plunge on the Tzolis.

It has paid off in spades. Tzolis bagged 21 goals in his first campaign in Belgium. He also opened the scoring from the spot as Brugge beat Union SG to lift the Super Cup last month. I expect Brugge to get on the scoresheet and I believe the wide forward from Greece will be the man responsible.

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