RB Salzburg v Austria Vienna

Salzburg go into the 2022/23 Austrian Bundesliga campaign targeting a 10^th consecutive top-flight title – a feat only previously achieved by 12 football clubs across Europe – and with a new-look squad after a busy summer in the transfer market. The Red Bulls broke the Austrian transfer record for both departures (Brenden Aaronson to Leeds, €32.84m) and arrivals (Lucas Gourna-Douath from St. Etienne, €13m), and will surely be heavy favourites to retain their crown despite the overhaul.

Their opponents in the season curtain-raiser will be an Austria Vienna side who have had an equally busy time of it on the market. The LASK trio of Marko Raguz, James Holland and Andreas Gruber are great additions, but the loss of Austrian national team goalie Patrick Pentz to Reims of France is a major blow. As is the fact that the Violets will start the season on -3 points as part of a punishment imposed for financial and legal reasons. The original penalty was a four-point deduction but that was subsequently reduced on appeal.

Having not lost any of their last 12 meetings with Austria Vienna (W11 D1) and any of their last 26 league matches on home turf, Salzburg will be overwhelming favourites to claim all three points. As they have also found the net more than once in seven of their last eight home games against the Violets, our recommendation is to bet on Salzburg to win and score over 1.5 goals in the process. If they do, it will be the sixth successive season in which they have won their opening match.

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LASK v Austria Klagenfurt

Few clubs in the 2022/23 Austrian Bundesliga have been as active on the transfer market as LASK: the Linzers will have more new faces in their squad than any other club (18), with forward Efthymios Koulouris the standout arrival on a €1m deal from Atromitos Athens. But they have lost a number of key performers in defence – the likes of Andres Andrade, Petar Filipovic and Dario Maresic – and still have regular centre-backs Yannis Letard, Filip Twardzik and Philipp Wiesinger out injured.

Last season’s surprise package Austria Klagenfurt will be riding high after their 8-1 victory over Admira Dornbirn in the Austrian Cup – one of the biggest wins in the first round of the competition – but they too lost a number of players over the break. The biggest blow for Peter Pacult’s men will be the return of Swedish winger Alex Timossi Andersson to his parent club Bayern Munich, but the loan of walking red card Turgay Gemicibaşi to Kasımpaşa in Turkey should at least help to improve their questionable disciplinary record.

LASK had a majorly disappointing end to 2021/22, missing out on European football for the first time since returning to the Bundesliga. They do tend to start seasons strongly, having won their opening game in each of the past three campaigns, but both matches between the teams since Austria Klagenfurt’s arrival in the league last summer ended in score draws. With that – and the fact neither side kept a clean sheet in their final six matches of last season – in mind, we suggest putting your money on both teams to score.

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Wolfsberg v Sturm Graz

Wolfsberg have had a talented group of players in recent years, but one name always stood out above the rest: Michi Liendl. The veteran playmaker, who scored 70 goals and notched 99 assists in 300 Bundesliga appearances, has now departed for second-tier Grazer AK and will surely leave a sizeable hole in the Carinthian club’s midfield. The Wolves have brought in Chelsea U23 attacking midfielder Thierno Ballo to replace him – one of a number of free transfers overseen by coach Robin Dutt this summer.

Opponents Sturm Graz were the main challengers to Red Bull Salzburg last season and have been widely tipped to retain second spot this term. With Danish youngster Rasmus Højlund leading the line, they are a formidable force to contend with – and they strengthened their squad over the summer by signing Slovenian Tomi Horvat, who scored in Mura’s famous victory against Spurs in the Conference League last season. The big team news ahead of Matchday 1 is that veteran forward Jakob Jantscher could miss this one with a calf problem.

Peculiarly, clashes between these two teams are both unpredictable and predictable at the same time: while the winner often changes (both teams have won three of the last six games each), it consistently tends to be the visitors that come out on top – with the away team winning each of the last seven meetings. With that in mind, our tip would be to go for Sturm Graz on a draw no bet, although the more adventurous punters out there might want to back them to win.

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