Grazer AK and Red Bull Salzburg will face off in the opening match of the 2024-25 Austrian Bundesliga season at Merkur Arena on Friday.
Die Roten will be making their first top-flight appearance in seventeen years, while the Red Bulls aim to reclaim the league title after a decade-long winning streak ended last season.
Match preview
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Grazer AK earned promotion to the top division as champions of the 2023-24 Austrian Football Second League, ending a seventeen-year absence.
The team narrowly missed out on promotion in the 2022-23 season, finishing one point behind eventual champions BW Linz, but they regrouped and went all the way last term.
Manager Gernot Messner, in charge since 2021, will be eager for a strong start to life in the top flight, but face a daunting task against 17-time champions RB Salzburg.
Grazer have quite a history with their opponents, having played them 51 times in the past, including a recent 4-3 friendly win in February 2023.
After a positive pre-season with four wins and one defeat (against Besiktas), Die Roten secured a place in the Austrian Cup with a penalty shootout victory over Velden following a 2-2 draw.
RB Salzburg suffered a shock by failing to win the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time in ten years, finishing four points behind champions Sturm Graz.
The club underwent managerial changes throughout the campaign, with Matthias Jaissle sacked at the start of the season and replaced by Alexander Hauser on a caretaker basis before Gerhard Struber took over.
Struber was dismissed in April despite the team being top of the table, with Onur Cinel taking interim charge until the end of the season.
However, former Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders was appointed as the club's new coach in May and will be tasked with regaining the title.
His reign has started well, as RB Salzburg enjoyed an unbeaten pre-season, winning all but one match, and they progressed in the Austrian Cup with a 6-0 victory over Dornbirn last time out.
Team News
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Grazer will kick off the league season without Markus Rusek, who has been out since March with a torn lateral ankle ligament.
The hosts will also be missing Milos Jovicic, Gabriel Zirngast and goalkeeper Christoph Nicht, who are sidelined with injuries.
New signing Dominik Frieser found the net in the cup win, and he is one to watch out for in this clash.
RB Salzburg will also be missing a number of players for this clash, including forward Fernando and goalkeeper Alexander Schlager.
Luka Sucic, Daouda Guindo, Janis Blaswich and Takumu Kawamura are all also going to miss Friday's game.
Ivorian forward Karim Konate bagged a brace in the win over Dornbirn, and he will be looking to have another solid campaign after scoring 20 times in 29 league games last term.
Grazer AK possible starting lineup:
Meierhofer; Rosenberger, Graf, Sebastian Gantsching, Filipovic, Lang; Italiano, Lichtenberger, Perchtold; Freiser, Satin
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Krumrey; Guindo, Pavlovic, Piatkowski, Baidoo; Gloukh, Diambou, Capaldo; Amankwah, Konate, Simic
We say: Grazer AK 2-4 Red Bull Salzburg
RB Salzburg will be confident of starting the season with a win under their new, experienced manager, and they could prove too strong for the newly promoted Grazer when the two sides meet on Friday.
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