Chelsea vs Salzburg LIVE Football Score 25 Oct 2022
Only 90 minutes could separate Chelsea from a place in the Champions League knockout stages, as the Blues travel to face Red Bull Salzburg in Group E on Tuesday night.
Graham Potter‘s men sit at the top of the section on seven points, while their Austrian hosts sit one place and one point worse off in this top-of-the-table showdown.
Red Bull Salzburg’s ability to compete with the European big guns while nurturing some of the finest young talent that Europe has to offer is admirable, but failure to convert draws into wins has been the downfall for the Austrian champions, who have lost their grip on top spot.
Matthias Jaissle‘s side are still unbeaten in the section – no mean feat given the calibre of opponents that they have pitted their wits against – but they could not hang on to a one-goal lead against Dinamo Zagreb on matchday four, as Nicolas Seiwald‘s opener was cancelled out by Robert Ljubicic.
Nevertheless, Salzburg’s fate remains in their own hands ahead of the penultimate round of matches, and victory would be enough to guarantee them a place in the last 16 if AC Milan and Dinamo Zagreb’s encounter ends all square, but they could also drop out of the top two if results do not go their way.
The Austrian powerhouses have remarkably gone unbeaten in their last 16 matches in all competitions this term but were held to a goalless stalemate by Sturm Graz in league action at the weekend, and only two of their last nine Champions League matches have actually ended in victory.
On the flip side, not since December 2020 have Jaissle’s men lost a home game in Europe’s premier tournament – with Milan, Sevilla, Bayern Munich and Lille among the clubs to have failed to win at the Red Bull Arena since – and Chelsea also know a thing or two about stalemates.
When taking a quick glance at Chelsea’s Champions League points tally, one would assume that the Blues’ pair of victories had come against Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb, but the Potter magic has been in full flow during back-to-back meetings with Italian champions AC Milan.
Seeing off the Rossoneri by an aggregate scoreline of 5-0 has reignited Chelsea’s charge for the Champions League knockout rounds, and the West London club need only come away from the Red Bull Arena with another three points to their name to guarantee a top-two finish.
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Dedic, Solet, Pavlovic, Ulmer; Kjaergaard, Gourna-Douath, Seiwald; Sucic; Okafor, Sesko
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Silva, Chilwell; Gallagher, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek; Mount, Havertz, Sterling
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