Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid predictions, odds and betting tips

RB Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid best bets

Atletico Madrid to win and over 2.5 goals – 10/11 with Paddy Power
Atletico Madrid to score in both halves – 2/1 with SBK
Julian Alvarez to score any time – 11/10 with BetMGM

Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid odds

Find the latest match odds for Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.

RB Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid predictions

Atletico Madrid are the only team in Champions League history to have reached the final three times without ever lifting the trophy.

Runners-up in 1974, 2014 and 2016, Atletico are aiming to go all the way in the current campaign. With one round of fixtures in the league phase remaining, Diego Simeone’s side are in a very strong position.

A top-eight finish was the target for all Europe’s leading lights at the start of the season and Atletico will realise that aim by beating Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday. Even a draw might be enough depending on how other results go.

Atletico have not made much of an impact on this competition in recent years. The Spanish side have not reached the last four since 2016/17, when they were sent packing by cross-city rivals Real Madrid.

Atletico did not get off to a particularly auspicious start this time around. A last-minute winner allowed them to squeeze past RB Leipzig on matchday one, but back-to-back defeats by Benfica and Lille represented a major setback.

Atletico have been perfect since then, however. Victories over Paris Saint-Germain, Sparta Prague, Slovan Bratislava and Bayer Leverkusen have lifted them up to fifth place in the 36-team table. Only Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter have amassed more points overall.

It is impressive how Atletico have managed to turn their season around. At the time of those aforementioned Champions League defeats, Simeone’s charges were also faring poorly in La Liga. An eight-game winning streak then saw them rise to the summit of the standings in Spain.

Atletico have stumbled of late, though, losing to Leganes and drawing with Villarreal to allow Real Madrid to overtake them. Overall, though, Simeone will be pretty content with where his team are at the end of January.

The league phase was always likely to be a struggle for Red Bull Salzburg and so it has proved. With only three points to their name, the Austrian outfit are one of nine teams to have been eliminated before matchday eight.

Atletico should not take anything for granted, though, as they seek the victory that would send them directly through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

RB Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid betting tips

Atletico Madrid are chasing a place in the round of 16 of the Champions League as they take on Red Bull Salzburg.

Atletico Madrid to win and over 2.5 goals

Red Bull Salzburg have consistently struggled in the Champions League and no one really fancied them to challenge for the play-offs this term.

Yet even by those low expectations, Salzburg have disappointed. A 3-1 away win against Feyenoord was an excellent result, but the Austrian side have lost every other match while scoring just one goal.

Free Bet Offers

Get the best free bet offers all season

Claim Free Bets

Five of their six matches to date have featured more than 2.5 goals, so that looks like a smart selection against an Atletico Madrid team that packs a punch in attack.

In terms of the result, it is hard to look past the visitors. True, they have not been at their best in their last two La Liga assignments, but they will not need to be to get past Salzburg.

Tip Atletico Madrid to win and over 2.5 goals at 10/11 with Paddy Power

Atletico Madrid to score in both halves

Simeone is renowned as a defence-first manager, but he has been increasingly willing to loosen the shackles this season.

Atletico have scored 16 goals in the Champions League, a tally bettered by only six sides. The trade-off has been a decrease in defensive solidity, with Atletico giving up 11 goals to their opponents.

That is a part of the game Red Bull Salzburg have also struggled with. They have conceded 23 goals so far, the second-worst total in the competition.

Atletico have scored either side of half-time in three of their last four European encounters, and we like their chances of doing so again at the Red Bull Arena.

Back Atletico Madrid to score in both halves at 2/1 with SBK

Julian Alvarez to score any time

Julian Alvarez left Manchester City for Atletico Madrid last summer because he wanted to be a guaranteed starter in his favoured position, but he has not had everything his own way in the Spanish capital.

The Argentina international has at times been used in other roles, but he has been ever-present in the starting XI in the Champions League.

Alvarez has responded by notching six goals, a tally which places him joint-fifth in the scoring charts behind Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Serhou Guirassy.

The World Cup winner will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a Red Bull Salzburg side that has found things difficult defensively throughout the league phase.

Alvarez can move onto seven goals (and perhaps even more) for the continental campaign on Wednesday.

Select Julian Alvarez to score any time at 11/10 with BetMGM

How to watch RB Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid

Location: Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria.
Date and time: Wednesday 29th January, 8pm.
How to watch: discovery+.

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chase their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
GambleAware – www.gambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.