Atletico Madrid vs Salzburg Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 25/10/2020, 02:32  by Daniel Ngulu in Champions League Predictions

This season’s UEFA Champions League is a marathon, at least at the group stages, and after starting their group matches last week, it is back to action for Match Day 2. Atletico Madrid plays host to RB Salzburg on Tuesday with both sides seeking their first wins in Group A. in their opening matches, Atletico Madrid fell 4-0 to Bayern Munich as Salzburg drew 2-2 with Lokomotiv Moscow. Atletico did recover well to beat Real Betis 2-0 in their La Liga clash on Saturday and will hope to back it up with another home win, against the Austrian side. The loss to Bayern Munich in Germany on Match Day 1 was expected but it now means Atleti have lost two straight Champions league matches. They earlier fell to RB Leipzig in last season’s quarter finals and they will know another loss here will be detrimental to their chances of advancing from the group. Save for the loss to Bayern, the Madrid side has done well so far this season and a hallmark of their performance is in their defensive attributes. In their last five matches, Atleti kept four clean sheets and except for the Bayern game, they have conceded just one goal in their other five matches this season. However, they have failed to score more than twice in three of their last five matches. In the Champions League matches at home, Atletico have six clean sheets in their last seven matches, but only two of the last 10 have produced over 2.5 goals.

Meanwhile, as Salzburg prepare for their first ever meeting with Atletico, they will also be hoping to build on their domestic win on Saturday. They recovered from the 2-2 draw with Lokomotiv with a 2-0 league win over Austria Wien. Salzburg had to see off Maccabi Tel Aviv in the qualifying rounds to make it to the Champions League group stages. In their opening group game, they had an impressive response after going down but dropped their guard to see Lokomotiv claim a share of the spoils. They will need to do better in Madrid as they are facing one of the best defensive sides, and with forwards in fine form, including new signing Luis Suarez, who has scored four in his first six matches. Salzburg have two clean sheets in their last nine matches but have scored in each of their 10 matches this season. This is going to be their toughest match of the season so far, at least before they meet Champions League holders Bayern Munich. Last season, they dropped to the Europa League after finishing third in a group that had then champions, Liverpool, and Napoli. This time, they will be keen to stay in the top competition and a positive result in Mardid will go a long way in ensuring that.