Austrian Bundesliga 2019/20: Salzburg vs Wolfsberger

First-placed Salzburg played against fourth-placed Wolfsberger for the second time in a week, in this Austrian Bundesliga fixture. Despite having a 2-0 lead, and, frankly, controlling the majority of the game, Salzburg were unable to hold onto victory as Wolfsberger staged a late comeback to ensure the game finished level.

This tactical analysis gives an in-depth analysis of the tactics used by both teams in this 2-2 draw.

Formations and lineups

Having drawn 0-0 with one another only four days before this there were unsurprisingly some personnel changes, and even formation changes between the sides.

Salzburg still lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, however, Maximilian Wöber, Patrick Farkas, Zlatko Junuzović, Enock Mwepu, and Patson Daka all came into the starting line-up. Daka has caught the eye, particularly since Erling Haaland left for the Bundesliga and Borussia Dortmund, and will no doubt catch the eye of many in Europe when Salzburg compete in the Champions League again, just as so many of their players did this season.

Wolfsberger made the biggest change, swapping from the 3-4-1-2 they had used earlier in the week for a 4-2-3-1, with Lukas Schöfl, Christopher Wernitznig and Mario Leitgeb coming into their starting line-up, with Cheikhou Dieng playing by himself up front, without the reported Celtic target, Shon Weissman alongside him.

Salzburg’s long passes

Salzburg were dominant in attack and will deeply regret not putting this game to bed. They took 19 shots, with nine on target, and their xG of 2.25 clearly eclipsed that of Wolfsberger’s 0.52 xG.

They played out from the back as you’d expect, however, were quite direct in their approach, constantly looking for options behind the Wolfsberger defence, and we saw them consistently able to pick out players behind their defence, specifically on the left side.