Red Bull Salzburg vs AC Milan

Red Bull Salzburg host AC Milan in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, 15 October 2026, at Red Bull Arena in Wals-Siezenheim, with the Austrian hosts missing up to seven players through injury.

Salzburg depleted by six confirmed absentees

Salzburg face severe squad limitations ahead of matchweek 2. Damir Redzic, Enrique Aguilar, Johannes Moser, Justin Omoregie, Nikolas Veratschnig, and Soumaïla Diabaté are all ruled out with injuries, while Christian Zawieschitzky is listed as doubtful. AC Milan travel with their own squad concerns, missing defender Matteo Gabbia and winger Alexis Saelemaekers to injury.

Salzburg unbeaten across five European fixtures

Despite their mounting medical list, Salzburg enter the fixture in strong European form. They opened the league stage with a 1-0 away victory against Levski Sofia on 17 September 2026, placing them 14th in the 36-team standings with three points and a plus-one goal difference. Prior to that, Salzburg earned qualification by defeating Mjallby AIF 3-0 at home on 27 August and 1-0 away on 20 August, following a 3-3 draw away at Pafos and a 1-0 home win over the Cypriot side on 6 August. Over their last three matches with chance data, Salzburg created an average of 1.91 expected goals per game while allowing only 0.94.

Milan search for first points after Benfica defeat

Milan sit 29th in the Europa League table with zero points and a minus-two goal difference after suffering a 2-0 home loss to Benfica on 16 September 2026. Domestic form has delivered steady results, including a 1-1 draw away at Sassuolo on 11 October, a 3-0 home win against Lecce on 20 September, a 2-2 draw at Lazio on 12 September, and a 1-1 draw at Juventus on 6 September. Midfielder Adrien Rabiot is Milan's top scorer this season with three goals across all competitions. Across their last five matches with recorded chance metrics, Milan created 1.05 expected goals per game and conceded 1.13.

Our model expects an AC Milan win

Our forecasting model expects an AC Milan win on Thursday. Milan's modest chance numbers of 1.05 expected goals created per game and their opening defeat to Benfica show vulnerabilities, but the absence of six confirmed first-team players and doubts over Christian Zawieschitzky significantly reduce Salzburg's depth at Red Bull Arena.