Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Tips, Predictions and Bet Builder

Mexican powerhouses Pachuca and Austrian newcomers Red Bull Salzburg enter the Club World Cup party on Wednesday at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.

With Real Madrid the overwhelming favourites to top the Group H rankings, this showdown is a critical one for two clubs with eyes on the other qualification spot for the knockout rounds.

For Pachuca it's a first game with ex-Mexico head coach Jaime Lozano in charge, while Salzburg will be hoping to give a better account of themselves in this competition than they did in last season's UEFA Champions League when they finished 34th of 36 in the league phase.

Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Tips Summary

Market	Tip	Odds
Match Result	Pachuca	7/4
Best Bet	Salomon Rondon to score	2/1
Bet Builder	Both Teams To Score, Pachuca to win, Bryan Gonzalez 1+ Tackles, Over 5 corners	11/2

Key Match Stats

• Pachuca scored 19 goals winning last season's CONCACAF Champions Cup 

• Salomon Rondon scored nine goals in the Champions Cup

• Ex-Newcastle United frontman Rondon has scored 10 goals in his last 19 Liga MX appearances

• Salzburg finished 34th of 36 in last season's UEFA Champions League, losing seven of their eight games

• Both teams have scored in eight of Salzburg's last nine Austrian Bundesliga matches

Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Prediction

Best Bet: Salomon Rondon to score @ 2/1

Ageless frontman Salomon Rondon is in the finest scoring form of his career at the venerable age of 35 and he can kickstart Pachuca's Club World Cup campaign by finding the net against Red Bull Salzburg.

Rondon has banged in 10 goals since the end of January in the Clausura in Mexico, found the net for Venezuela against Peru in March and Bolivia this month in World Cup qualifiers, and is showing no signs of drying up.

New boss Lozano has made it clear the ex-West Brom and Newcastle striker is central to his plans and he demonstrated his big-stage pedigree last winter by top scoring with nine goals in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Pachuca won that and can see off a Salzburg side who conceded a group-stage high 27 goals in eight UEFA Champions League fixtures last term.

Steve Davies says:

Salzburg are all about developing talent and selling it on and the Austrian youngsters might find gnarled old warriors like Pachuca - and Salomon Rondon, in particular - a bit too hot to handle.

Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg Bet Builder Tip

• Both Teams to Score

• Bryan Gonzalez 1+ Tackle

• Pachuca to win match

• Over 7 Corners

  
  Pays 11/2

Pachuca always were a positive side before Lozano arrived and he won't alter that approach.

The Mexicans scored 19 goals in seven games winning last autumn's CONCACAF Champions Cup and we know Red Bull Salzburg live and die by the sword.

Their eight UEFA Champions League games produced 32 goals - four per match - while in their 32 Bundesliga ties they scored 53 but conceded 36.

This promises to be a fun encounter played on the front foot so reflect that in the bet builder by making both teams to score and over seven corners two components.

Pachuca ought to be the better side and can demonstrate that by winning the game, while defender Bryan Gonzalez, twice red carded in Liga MX this term, can put in at least one tackle.

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Victory has to be the ambition here with Real Madrid also in the group so don't expect too many backward steps from two sides who like to be positive.

Steve Davies adds.

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Tactics, Form and Team News

Pachuca ended the season poorly but improved in the Clausura - coming eighth - after a dismal Apertura before Christmas.

New boss Lozano has plenty of calls to make but is definitely without defender Andres Micolta. Fellow centre-back Sergio Barreto is a doubt.

Expected Pachuca line up: (4-2-3-1) Moreno; L Rodriguez, Barreto, Bauermann, Gonzalez; Palavecino, Montiel; E Rodriguez, Kennedy, Idrissi; Rondon

Midfielder Nicolas Capaldo is out and left-back John Mellberg a doubt for Salzburg.

The Austrians, poor over the first half of the season both domestically and in the UEFA Champions League, recovered under new boss Thomas Letsch, winning nine of their last 15 league games to finish second.

Expected Red Bull Salzburg line up: (4-2-2-2) Schlager; Trummer, Gadou, S Baidoo, Mellberg; Bidstrup, Kawamura; Nene, Gloukh; Ratkov, E Baidoo.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.