Group E of the Champions League has panned out as many expected it to with Liverpool and Napoli in the top two spots heading into gameweek five of the competition.
The other two teams in the group, Racing Genk and RB Salzburg and go head-to-head on Wednesday night in a game that will have a big say in who clinches that vital third spot and drops into the Europa League in the new year.
The home side has been the whipping boys of the group so far, collecting just a point from their four group games. Genk’s only highlight of the campaign so far was a goalless draw with Napoli.
However, their low point in the campaign came in a 6-2 defeat by Salzburg in the reverse fixture, when Norwegian wonderkid Erling Haland grabbed a hat-trick on his European debut.
Genk’s struggles in the Champions League this season are following a trend of the Belgian team being poor in the competition, as they have now failed to win in ten games in the competition, losing six times in the process.
The Belgian side has at least been hard to beat on home soil in the Champions League of late, having lost just once in seven games.
RB Salzburg have failed to win in the Champions League since the reverse fixture, losing two of their previous three matches. In fact, the victory is Salzburg’s only win in their last six games in the Champions League.
This season is the first time Salzburg have ever featured in the competitions group stages, so the campaign may be used as a learning curve. With the visitors currently dominating their domestic league this season it is unlikely to be their last time in the group stages of the Champions League.
Goede dag, België! 👋🇧🇪 #GNKSAL pic.twitter.com/SYqW8eXkvN— FC Red Bull Salzburg (@RedBullSalzburg) November 26, 2019
Goede dag, België! 👋🇧🇪 #GNKSAL pic.twitter.com/SYqW8eXkvN
Forebet predicts that this game will end in an entertaining draw that will see Salzburg enjoying European football in the new year.