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Salzburg and Sturm Graz will battle for three points on matchday 12 in the Austrian Bundesliga on Sunday.
The home side will be looking to build on their eight-point advantage at the summit of the table. Salzburg have garnered 31 points from 11 matches and look on course to successfully defend their crown for the ninth successive season.
Strum Graz are directly below them and both sides at the top of the table have already established a clear lead over the rest of the chasing pack. Second-placed Graz are also eight points clear of Wolfsberger AC in third.
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Salzburg come into the game on the back of a thrilling 3-1 home win over Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League. Noah Okafor scored a brace in addition to the in-form Karim Adeyemi's first-half goal.
Sturm Graz fell to a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad on home turf in the UEFA Europa League. Alexander Isak scored the winning goal in the 67th minute.
Salzburg vs Sturm Graz Head-to-Head
Salzburg have 47 wins form their last 90 matches against Sturm Graz. The visitors were victorious on 24 occasions while 19 matches in the past ended in a stalemate.
Their most recent meeting came on matchday one of the current campaign, when a second-half fightback saw Salzburg secure a 3-1 victory having been trailing at halftime.
Salzburg form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-W
Sturm Graz form guide (all competitions): L-W-L-L-W
Salzburg vs Sturm Graz Team News
Salzburg
The defending champions have several injury concerns ahead of the game. Benjamin Sesko (muscle), Oumar Solet (knee), Kamil Piatkowski (ankle), Zlatko Junuzovic (heel), Sekou Koita (knee) and Albert Vallci (achilles tendon) are all unavailable.
Injuries: Benjamin Sesko, Oumar Solet, Kamil Piatkowski, Zlatko Junuzovic, Sekou Koita, Albert Vallci
Suspension: None
Sturm Graz
Otar Kiteishvili (muscle cramps) and Sandro Ingolitsch (knee) are the only injury concerns for the visitors.
Injuries: Sandro Ingolitsch, Otar Kiteishvili
Suspension: None
Salzburg vs Sturm Graz Predicted XI
Salzburg Predicted XI (4-4-2): Philipp Kohn (GK); Andreas Ulmer, Max Wober, Jerome Onguene, Rasmus Kristensen; Nicolas Seiwald, Mohamed Camara, Brenden Aaronson, Luka Sucic; Karim Adeyemi, Noah Okafor
Sturm Graz Predicted XI (4-3-3): Jorg Siebenhandl (GK); Amadou Dante, Gregory Wuthrich, David Affrengruber, Jusuf Gazibegovic; Alexander Prass, Jon Stankovic, Stefan Hierlander; Anderson Niangbo, Jakob Jantscher, Kelvin Yeboah
Salzburg vs Sturm Graz Prediction
Salzburg are overwhelming favorites and barring a highly unlikely upset, the hosts should secure a comfortable victory in front of their fans.
Salzburg's quality is far beyond what any other side in the league can match and we are backing them to cruise to another three points.
Prediction: Salzburg 4-1 Sturm Graz
