Friday evening sees the start of a new Austrian Bundesliga season and this upcoming fixture between RB Salzburg and Austria Vienna brings the curtain up on another Bundesliga campaign where Salzburg are again the clear favourites to lift the domestic top flight title.
RB Salzburg waltzed their way to yet another Bundesliga title at the end of last season as the hosts finished a massive 18 points clear of their nearest rivals, Sturm Graz, who were runners-up to a dominant Salzburg outfit.
Die Highlights einer chancenreichen Partie gibt es hier ⤵️— FC Red Bull Salzburg (@RedBullSalzburg) July 16, 2022
Die Highlights einer chancenreichen Partie gibt es hier ⤵️
Indeed, Salzburg lost just twice throughout the whole of the campaign.
During the regular season, Salzburg remained unbeaten throughout on home soil as the hosts racked up a total of 10 wins in their 11 home games overall and dropped just two points in the process after being held to a 0-0 draw by Admira.
Nevertheless, 10 wins overall at home suggests Salzburg will once again be the team to beat this term and they also hold a commanding head to head record against Austria Vienna as well, with Salzburg winning each of the previous seven meetings on the trot.
Austria Vienna finished in 4th spot at the end of the regular Bundesliga season and then went onto claim 3rd spot overall in the Championship Round phase of the Austrian top flight season which earned them a place in the Europa League qualifiers.
However, although Austria Vienna probably achieved what was expected of them, the visitors weren’t always a convincing outfit in the Bundesliga.
They finished the campaign with just two wins from their final nine games of the overall season.
Victories against Austria Klagenfurt and Sturm Graz glossed over a previous sequence of disappointing results which saw Austria Vienna without a win in their preceding seven games.
Four draws were overshadowed by three defeats on the trot, losing to the likes of Sturm Graz along with back to back defeats suffered at the hands of Friday’s upcoming hosts, RB Salzburg, in 2-1 and 5-0 losses.
Form and results away from home have also been inconsistent where Austria Vienna have been concerned.
They managed to collect just three wins out of their last 11 outings on the road, and this could come back to haunt them once again on Friday night.
Salzburg have held the upper hand in previous exchanges and that trend looks set to continue on Friday evening.