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Barcelona are back in action on Wednesday as they travel to the Red Bull Arena for their pre-season friendly fixture against Red Bull Salzburg.
The Catalan giants claimed a 3-0 victory over Vfb Stuttgart last time out. Meanwhile, Salzburg head into the game off the back of an emphatic 7-1 hammering of SV Reid in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Following an impressive 1-0 win over Spaniards Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg returned to the Austrian Bundesliga where they steamrolled SV Reid in a 7-1 victory.
Benjamin Sesko and Karim Adeyemi scored two goals each as Salzburg thrashed the Wikinger to secure their second league win of the season.
Matthias Jaissle’s men have now picked up four wins from their last four outings across all competitions, including a 4-1 win over bottom tier WSC Hertha in round one of the OFB Cup.
Salzburg currently sit top of the Austrian Bundesliga table, two points ahead of second-placed Flyeralarm Admira.
Meanwhile, Barcelona maintained their perfect pre-season record on Saturday as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over German Bundesliga side Vfb Stuttgart.
Newly signed forward Memphis Depay, midfielder Riqui Puig and Yusuf Demir were on target to hand the Blaugrana the victory.
Barcelona have now picked up three wins from their three pre-season fixtures, scoring 10 goals and conceding once.
Head coach Ronald Koeman will hope his side's blistering form can continue ahead of their La Liga curtain raiser against Real Sociedad.
Red Bull Salzburg vs Barcelona Head-To-Head
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides and they will both be aiming to begin their rivalry on a good note.
Red Bull Salzburg Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-W-W
Barcelona Form Guide (all competitions): L-W-W-W-W
Red Bull Salzburg vs Barcelona Team News
Red Bull Salzburg
While a solid starting XI is expected from manager Matthias Jaissle, a few stars are likely to be rested to reduce injury risks as the Austrian Bundesliga is already underway.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Barcelona
Barcelona remain without captain Lionel Messi, who is still on holiday following his Copa America triumph with Argentina. Eric Garcia, Pedri and Oscar Mingueza are away on Olympic duty with Spain.
Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are still recovering from long-term injuries.
Injured: Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Lionel Messi, Eric Garcia, Pedri, Oscar Mingueza
Red Bull Salzburg vs Barcelona Predicted XI
Salzburg predicted XI (4-1-2-1-2): Nico Mantl; Rasmus Kristensen, Oumar Solet, Maximilian Wober, Andreas Ulmer; Zlatko Junuzovic, Nicolas Capaldo, Nicolas Seiwald, Breden Aaronson, Benjamin Sesko, Sekou Koita
Barcelona Predicted XI (4-3-3): Neto; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Sergino Dest; Nico Gonzalez, Alex Collado, Gavi; Antoin Griezmann, Memphis Depay, Yusuf Demir
Red Bull Salzburg vs Barcelona Prediction
Barcelona have enjoyed an impressive pre-season run and will aim to extend this fine form to the upcoming La Liga campaign.
They head into the game with a stronger crop of players in their arsenal and we predict they will put that to good use and claim all three points.
Prediction: Red Bull Salzburg 1-3 Barcelona
