Wednesday night sees Liverpool host FC Red Bull Salzburg at Anfield. The Austrian side, like Liverpool, are top of their domestic division and, like Liverpool, are unbeaten; however, unlike Liverpool, they have dropped points this season. Salzburg have registered 7 wins and 1 draw in their opening 8 games. The exuberant Austrians will be looking to take the game to the Reds on Wednesday night in a match that could prove to be Liverpool’s toughest Champions League group game this year.
RB Salzburg could be Liverpool’s biggest test. (Photo by Michael Molzar/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)
Liverpool will have to contend with the Austrian’s wonderkid forward, Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker, son of former Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City player, Alf-Inge Haaland, has already scored 4 hat tricks this year. The 19-year-old front man has notched 17 goals in 10 games so far for Salzburg. He stands at 6ft 4in tall which means he won’t be easy to bully in the air. He is however of much slighter frame than Jürgen Klopp’s colossus, Virgil van Dijk.
Salzburg are the Liverpool of Austrian football, or rather, the 2013-17 Liverpool of Austrian football. They are an all out attacking side with vulnerability defensively. This ferociously attacking and high pressing nature will make them fierce opponents at Anfield. They will be coming into the fixture wanting to take the game to the European champions, dreaming of a massive scalp to take back to Austria.
The visitors have started their European campaign strongly, they beat Genk 6-2 on the opening day of group stage fixtures, the latest of Erling Haaland’s hat-tricks. With the two sides seeking to simply out score each other, Wednesday night promises to be a game full of quality and goals but not much defending. Liverpool just need to make sure they score one more.