Protect the lead: Salzburg and LASK meet at the summit
Fussballclub RB Salzburg host Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub on 23 March with six points between first and second, and both sides carrying long unbeaten league runs.
The Austrian Premier Division’s lead is at stake on 23 March: Fussballclub RB Salzburg can strengthen their position at the top, while Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub have the chance to cut the gap to three points. Salzburg have 50 points from 22 games; LASK have 44. The season has 22 games played, and the pair meet with their strongest recent league form behind them.
Salzburg are unbeaten in seven league games since their last defeat; LASK’s run is eight. Their two league meetings this season both went Salzburg’s way: 3-2 on 12 August and 1-0 on 11 November. Salzburg also beat LASK 2-0 in the Austrian FA Cup on 9 February. That sequence gives the visitors a specific task: turn a run of close losses to the leaders into a result that changes the shape of the race.
Both are expected to use a 4-3-3 DM Wide. Salzburg’s Nismet Husejinović has four goals and two assists across his last five games, while striker Dušan Lukić has also scored four in that span. LASK’s Jeffrey Bartmann has contributed two goals and two assists over his last five. The wide contests may matter just as much: Antonio Luis Suárez has been productive for the visitors, but Salzburg’s Raphael Ernstberger will be tasked with containing him at left-back.
There are absences on both sides. Salzburg are without regular right winger Rafael Suárez through flu, as well as central defenders Wiktor Czachowski and Manuel Krause. LASK’s regular goalkeeper Marc Wüst and striker Vicente are injured, while Joaquín Cavalieri is also out with a gashed upper leg. LASK’s expected goalkeeper is Mario Saavedra, who has been in good form, but the visitors’ available starters include several carrying tiredness or reduced condition.
Salzburg’s Adonay returns to face the club where he made 155 appearances and scored 26 goals. LASK also have former Salzburg players in their expected side, including Cavalieri, though his injury rules him out. The standings make this more than a meeting between two in-form teams: it is a chance for the pursuers to make the title race tighter, and for the leaders to keep their recent control intact.