Red Bull Salzburg vs Dynamo Kyiv prediction 27.08.2024 | Champions League

• Competition: Champions League Qualifiers, Playoff Round, 2nd Leg
• Date: Tuesday, 27th August, 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CEST
• Venue: Red Bull Arena (Salzburg)

After securing a 2-0 win in the first leg, Red Bull Salzburg will look to finish the job against Dynamo Kyiv in the second leg of their Champions League Playoff Round, which takes place in Austria.

Red Bull Salzburg have been a dominant force in Austrian football, winning ten consecutive league titles. However, they barely missed out on their eleventh straight championship last season, finishing second, just two points behind champions Sturm Graz. This second-place finish meant Salzburg had to go through the Champions League Qualifiers. In the previous round, they eliminated Twente on a 5:4 aggregate and now have a two-goal advantage over Dynamo Kyiv and only need to finish the job. Also, Red Bull Salzburg started their Bundesliga campaign well, securing all nine points after the first three rounds.

In recent several seasons, Dynamo Kyiv were mostly the second-best team in Ukraine. Last year, they once again finished second, two points away from the eventual champs, Shakhtar Donetsk. Unlike Red Bull Salzburg, Dynamo started their European Qualifiers from the 2nd round, successfully eliminating Partizan and Rangers. Now, they face a tough challenge in overturning a two-goal deficit, and bookmakers are not optimistic about their chances. Right now, the odds of them reaching the Champions League Group phase are between 13 and 19. When it comes to the domestic league, Dynamo opened the season with two wins in two rounds and are surely among the best teams in the league once again.

Red Bull Salzburg vs Dynamo Kiyv pick: Salzburg to win and cover the -1 AH spread

Since Dynamo plays their European games on neutral pitch, the first match was played in Poland (Arena Lublin). Although it was a close contest, Salzburg's efficiency made the difference. Now, at Red Bull Arena, Dynamo Kiyv have to open, which could easily backfire on them.

Red Bull Salzburg started this season great. They won six of seven matches and played most of their games (five) away from home. At home, they won both games with seven scored goals. In Europe, they have been pretty good at home, winning seven of 13 games while losing games only to the really good teams like Benfica, Inter, Real Sociedad, Chelsea, etc. Against teams like Dynamo, they rarely had problems on their turf.

Meanwhile, Dynamo Kiyv also started the season well. However, if we exclude the current season, Dynamo weren't too great on the road in Europe. In the last three seasons, they played 11 matches and lost eight of them (73%). So, it is unreal to expect they can avoid defeat against a team that has already beaten them on a neutral pitch.