We have reached the 2022/23 Europa League knockout round playoffs and one of the games to be played on the 16th of February is between Red Bull Salzburg and Roma.
This is the first leg of the tie and it will be played at the Red Bull Arena with the hosts currently top of the Austrian Bundesliga and the visitors 4th in Serie A.
🔔 @EuropaLeague-Woche! Wie ist deine #UEL-Stimmung? ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ifRdjApRXC— FC Red Bull Salzburg (@RedBullSalzburg) February 13, 2023
🔔 @EuropaLeague-Woche! Wie ist deine #UEL-Stimmung? ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ifRdjApRXC
Red Bull Salzburg come into the game having beat Austria Lustenau 4-0 at home in the Bundesliga on the weekend.
Despite the emphatic final score, Red Bull Salzburg fans were forced to wait until the beginning of the second half to open the scoring. Red Bull Salzburg took control of the game with a second goal in the 52nd minute and added two further goals in the final 14 minutes.
That victory means Red Bull Salzburg have won 1 and lost 1 of their two fixtures following the resumption of competitive football in Austria. The defeat came in the Austrian Cup against Strum Graz at home via a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.
Trends show Red Bull Salzburg have won 3 of their last 4 competitive fixtures, with all 3 wins coming in the Bundesliga.
Red Bull Salzburg started their European campaign in the Champions League this season but recorded just a single victory in their group. Red Bull Salzburg have failed to win any of their last 4 Europa League matches, with clean sheets a problem in the competition.
Roma make the trip to the Red Bull Arena on the back of a 1-1 draw at Lecce in Serie A on the weekend.
Roma fell behind after only 6 minutes but scored the equaliser from the penalty spot 11 minutes later. It was a disappointing result against a team in the bottom half of the table but Roma remain in the top four places in Serie A.
Trends show Roma have won only 1 of their 4 most recent matches in all competitions. The win came over Empoli at home in Serie A but there have been defeats against Napoli away in Serie A and Cremonese at home in the Coppa Italia.
Roma started their European campaign in Group C of the Europa League and finished in second place behind Real Betis. Roma are undefeated in 5 of their last 6 Europa League games.
Team news and Red Bull Salzburg are expected to be without the injured trio of Daouda Guindo, Dijon Kameri, and Samson Tijani. They also have doubts over the fitness of Bryan Okoh, Justin Omoregie, and Karim Konaté.
Roma will be without Leonardo Spinazzola due to injury but every other player should be available, including Georginio Wijnaldum, who has returned from a long injury.
This is going to be a tough test for Roma in Salzburg and we expect it to be a close game.
Red Bull Salzburg usually deliver a strong performance in-front of their own fans in Europe but Jose Mourinho knows how to get the job done and we could see a narrow 1-0 victory for Roma in this match.