Salzburg vs Lokomotiv Moscow Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 19/10/2020, 03:06  by James | Modified on 19/10/2020 at 04:06 in Champions League Prediction

RB Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow lock horns at the Red Bull Arena in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The Austrian branch of the energy drink's football empire will be keen to build upon their impressive showing in the group stage last season. It is the second season in a row that they enter the group stage. They do so without standout players from last season, like Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino. This is the Salzburg business model: Acquire young talent, develop, and sell on for a big profit. This will be Lokomotiv's third consecutive season in the Champions League group stage. Lokomotiv have a few familiar names in their squad, including Russia internationals like Anton Miranchuk and Portuguese forward Eder. They are 11 games into the league season and currently sit fourth in the table after a run of six games unbeaten. The last four of those matches have been Lokomotiv wins and five of the six have featured fewer than two goals. Away from home, they have failed to win three of their last four matches. In the Champions League, they have lost five and won one of their last six away fixtures. They failed to score in three of those games.

Salzburg are four games into the Austrian Bundesliga season and top the table with four wins, all of which saw them score at least three goals. They qualified for the Champions League with a 5-2 aggregate win over Maccabi Tel Aviv. Their group stage matches last season were high-scoring and they managed to score three times against Liverpool and twice against Napoli. At home, they recorded one of the biggest wins of that edition of the competition, a 6-2 win over Genk. The team has changed since then, so we aren't anticipating a thriller. Instead, we suggest backing a draw between two clubs meeting in Europe for the first time.