Rheindorf Altach vs Salzburg Prediction: The defending champions will win

After beating Traiskirchen in the OFB Cup, Altach will face the defending champions, Salzburg, in the opening round of the Austrian Bundesliga at Cashpoint Arena on the 29th of July. In the opening round of the Austrian OFB Cup, the Red Bulls prevailed over Ardagger.

Altach came dangerously close to being relegated last season. They finished in 11th place, just five points above the relegation spot held by Ried. Altach anticipates a more enjoyable and stress-free 2023/24 season.

Two victories and two losses marked their preseason performance. Altach opened the new campaign with a victory in the cup match against Traiskirchen, which they played away from home and won 2-1. Until the game's final 15 minutes, Altach were actually down, but they rallied with two goals to earn a crucial victory. The decision to choose Joachim Standfest as the new head coach will have an impact on the team's overall success.

It's likely that Altach are weaker than they were last year. Players such as Stefan Haudum, Tino Casali, Manuel Thurnwald, and Johannes Tartarotti were among those that departed from the team. They each had a significant part to play in the previous season. But Altach did a lot of signing, bringing in several new players. They signed Christian Gebauer, who had previously played for Arminia Bielefeld, Dejan Stojanovic, who had previously played for Jahn Regensburg, Lukas Fadinger, who had previously played for Hartberg, Gustavo Santos, who had previously played for Dornbirn, and a few other players. They are all good enough to play in the Austrian league, but none of them is particularly excellent enough to make a game-changing impact.

Since nearly the beginning of the 2000s, RB Salzburg has been at the top of the football standings in Austria. In the previous season, they won the league title by a margin of seven points over the team that finished in second place, which was Sturm Graz. During the preseason, RB Salzburg had a record of two wins and three losses, which was not very impressive. They defeated Ardagger in the previous week's cup competition on the road with a score of 6-0. That was a walk in the park for the Austrian team with the best record.

During the summer, players Benjamin Sesko, Nicolas Seiwald, Noah Okafor, Philipp Kohn, Junior Adamu, and Oumar Diakite decided to part ways with the squad. Meanwhile, they brought in a few promising young players including Mads Bidstrup (from Brentford), Aleksa Terzic (Fiorentina), Petar Ratkov (TSC), Douglas Mendes (RB Bragantino), and Leandro Morgalla (1860 Munchen).

Altach: Dejan Stojanovic(GK), Lukas Gugganig, Constantin Reiner, Leonardo Lukacevic, Jan Zwischenbrugger, Mike Bähre, Lukas Jäger, Christian Gebauer, Jan Jurcec, Lukas Fadinger, Atdhe Nuhiu.

Red Bull Salzburg: Alexander Schlager(GK), Amar Dedić, Oumar Solet, Strahinja Pavlovic, Bernardo, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Amankwah Forson, Maurits Kjaergaard, Andreas Ulmer, Petar Ratkov, Karim Konaté.

After a series of uninteresting preseason games, the defending champions showed they were ready to retain their title by winning the cup competition. From what I've seen of the game so far, they should be able to cruise to victory.