Salzburg v Marseille Betting Preview – UEFA Europa League 3rd May 8.05pm
Marseille holds a 2-0 lead from the first leg of this UEFA Europa League semi-final and have a strong foothold therefore in trying to get through to the final where they will meet either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid. But in the last round, Salzburg mounted a superb comeback on home soil from a two-goal deficit to book their place in the final four. Do they have another fight back in them?
Salzburg News and Form
Both of these mounted a huge comeback in the last round of the competition. Salzburg suffered a 4-2 away defeat at Lazio in their quarter-final tie, but back on home soil they got the bit between their teeth and posted a big 4-1 home success. They are going to need more of that fighting quality in this one to get through to the final after losing the first leg 2-0 against Marseille. Salzburg are unbeaten in 38 games on home soil (all competitions) since November 2016 having produced a W30 D9 record there in that sequence. The Austrians have gone W9 D1 in their ten home games since the turn of the new year. For Salzburg, they are going to need all of that positive home force to overcome this deficit. In their only previous European semi-final, they beat Karlsruhe on away goals in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup.
Salzburg holds a W2 L1 record from three previous home encounters against French sides and overall are W3 D1 L3 from their seven previous fixtures against French opposition. Until this semi-final tie, they had never met a French side in the knockout stage of a competition though. They were on a huge 19 match undefeated streak of form in Europe before losing at Lazio in the last round. Still, back at home, they are still unbeaten from their ten previous European home games at W7 D3. In those ten previous European games, they have shipped just three goals in total. But there is attacking power on both sides here and both teams to score at bet365 is at 8/13 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 04:24 p.m. on April 29th, 2018) while the game-ending under 2.5 goals which has been the trend between this season, is probably going to take the fancy of punters.
Marseille News and Form
Marseille have won through in each of their last three European semi-finals and are in good shape in this one as well. Like Salzburg, the French side produced a remarkable come back in the last round to get through to the final four. They were trailing 1-0 from the away first leg against German outfit RB Leipzig and after conceding the opening goal back at home, Marseille produced a great comeback to romp to a 5-2 home success in the second leg. This is their first appearance in the semi-final of the Europa League, as it is for their opponents. They should have a good idea of what they are going up against after having met the Austrians in the group stage of this season’s Europa League already. Marseille’s record in seven games against Austrian clubs is W3 D2 L2.
Away from home the French side are W1 L2 from previous trips to Austria. Marseille have won 14 of the 20 previous UEFA competition ties after having won the first leg on home soil. In the bet365 correct score market the shortest priced option is a 1-1 draw at 11/2 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 04:24 p.m. on April 29th, 2018). The one concern for them is that their away form is not very good at all. They have managed to pick up just the one win in his last nine road games in Europe, scoring just the five goals in that run of games. Each of their last four away games have ended in a 1-0 defeat for them, but they wouldn’t care in the end if that happened to them again in this one as that would be enough to put them through to the Europa League Final, can they hang on?
Salzburg v Marseille Head to Head
Salzburg and Marseille had never met each other before this season. This will be their fourth game of this season. They were paired up in the group stage where Salzburg took a 1-0 home win before there was a 0-0 draw back in France between them. Then with the 2-0 home win for Marseille in the first leg, it means that both teams have failed to score in any of the previous meetings and all have been under 2.5 goals.
Salzburg v Marseille Betting Odds*
Salzburg 21/20, Marseille 12/5, Draw 5/2* (Betting Odds taken at 04:24 p.m. on April 29th, 2018)
Salzburg v Marseille Predictions
Salzburg are such a strong home side they have a good chance of getting themselves back into this tie. But can they do enough to get all of the goals that they need? Marseille have been struggling for form on the road, so back a 1-0 home win for the Austrians to ride the trend of away defeats for the French side.
