Austria Vienna vs Red Bull Salzburg Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this Austrian Bundesliga clash between Austria Vienna and Red Bull Salzburg. On paper, this looks like a proper mismatch, but dig into the recent form and it's a different story altogether.

Austria Vienna are sitting pretty in 5th with 16 points, and they've been playing some decent stuff lately. They've notched some proper tasty results - a 3-1 hammering of Rapid Vienna away from home, a 1-0 win at league leaders Sturm Graz, and a 3-2 home victory against Ried. That said, their home form's been a bit dodgy, winning just 33% of their home games. They score goals (1.4 per game) but also let them in at the same rate.

Now for Red Bull Salzburg... blimey, what's happened to them? They're 2nd in the table but their recent form is shocking. Three wins, two draws, and FIVE losses in their last ten. They've been shipping goals for fun - 1.8 per game - and haven't kept a single clean sheet in their last ten matches. That's right, ZERO clean sheets. They've just lost 2-3 at home to Ferencvarosi, drew 2-2 with SCR Altach, and got battered 0-2 by Sturm Graz.

Here's the kicker though - the head-to-head record is mental. Austria Vienna have NEVER beaten Salzburg in nine attempts. Not once! At home, it's played five, lost three, drawn two. Last time out? 0-2 loss.

But form vs history - what do we back? Salzburg are knackered too - only three days' rest compared to Vienna's eight, and they've played twice in the last fortnight compared to Vienna's once.

Both teams seem to have forgotten how to defend. Austria Vienna have both teams scoring in 60% of their games, while Salzburg are at 70%. With Salzburg's defence looking like a sieve and Vienna's attack firing, I'm expecting goals at both ends.

The odds for both teams to score at 1.61 look proper tasty to me. Given the patterns and Salzburg's defensive nightmares, this feels like the smart money.