Salzburg v Leipzig facts

With four wins out of four in Group B, Salzburg are on the brink of a sixth appearance in the UEFA Europa League's knockout phase as they host an RB Leipzig side who are also in a position to qualify for the round of 32 with a game to spare.

• Salzburg have dominated the section, scoring three goals in each of their opening three games to defeat their group rivals before completing the double over Rosenborg on matchday four with a 5-2 win in Norway. They are seeking to claim maximum points in a UEFA Europa League group for the third time – no other club has managed the feat more than once – although a draw will be enough to see them qualify in top spot.

• Leipzig have won two and lost two of their four games but hold a head-to-head advantage over Celtic, having beaten the Scottish champions 2-0 at home on matchday three before losing 2-1 in Glasgow a fortnight later. A victory in Salzburg would take them through – alongside their hosts – should Celtic lose at point-less Rosenborg.

Previous meetings
• Salzburg beat Leipzig 3-2 away on matchday one thanks to an 89th-minute winner from Fredrik Gulbrandsen, the home side having earlier retrieved a two-goal deficit. It was the German club's first fixture against Austrian opposition.

• Salzburg's win gave them an evenly balanced record against teams from across the border (W4 D3 L4). At home it is W2 D2 L1 with no defeats in the last four matches, all of which have featured clean sheets for the Austrian side. The last visitors from Germany to score in Salzburg were Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 1980/81 European Cup Winners' Cup first round (3-0).

Form guide
Salzburg
• Champions of Austria for the fifth year running in 2017/18, Salzburg entered this season's UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round, but their annual summer quest to reach the group stage ended in another near-miss as they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose out on away goals to Crvena zvezda in the play-offs (0-0 away, 2-2 home).

• Last season Salzburg enjoyed the most successful of their seven previous seasons in the UEFA Europa League proper, winning their group then eliminating Real Sociedad, Dortmund and Lazio before losing after extra time in the semi-final to Marseille.

• Salzburg are undefeated in 15 European home games, winning 11 including five of the last six. Their overall home record in the UEFA Europa League group stage is W15 D3 L5, the last defeat in the Stadion Salzburg coming on matchday three of the 2016/17 campaign – 0-1 against Nice. They have not conceded more than one goal in any of their last 14 UEFA Europa League home fixtures, play-offs included, keeping clean sheets in eight of those matches.

Leipzig
• Leipzig finished sixth in the 2017/18 Bundesliga to make it two European qualifications in a row, their debut continental campaign having ended in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals – eliminated by Marseille – after they finished third in their UEFA Champions League group.

• Having defeated Häcken of Sweden and Romania's Universitatea Craiova in the first two qualifying rounds this season, Leipzig needed a last-gasp penalty from Emil Forsberg to win their play-off 3-2 on aggregate against Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk.

• Leipzig's 2-1 defeat at Celtic ended their four-match unbeaten run away from home in Europe this term, the 3-1 win at Rosenborg on matchday two following three successive draws in the UEFA Europa League qualifying phase. Their away record in two seasons of European competition is W3 D4 L4; in only one of those 11 matches have they kept a clean sheet (0-0 at Zorya).

Links and trivia 
• Salzburg coach Marco Rose was born in Leipzig and played professionally in Germany. His assistant Alexander Zickler is also German and was capped 12 times by the national team, playing for Dynamo Dresden and Bayern München.

• Salzburg's André Ramalho (Leverkusen), Marin Pongračić (1860 München), Zlatko Junuzović (Werder Bremen) and Reinhold Yabo (Köln, Aachen, Karlsruhe, Bielefeld) have all played in Germany.

• Current Leipzig players Péter Gulácsi, Dayot Upamecano, Stefan Ilsanker, Kevin Kampl, Konrad Laimer and Marcel Sabitzer have all previously played for Salzburg, while Smail Prevljak joined Salzburg from the German club in 2014. Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick also worked for Salzburg as director of sport.

• Salzburg are competing in the UEFA Europa League proper for the eighth time – a record they share with Ajax and Sporting CP. The matchday four win at Rosenborg was the Austrian club's record 35th in the competition – one more than Villarreal.

• Despite drawing a blank away to Rosenborg, Salzburg's Munas Dabbur remains the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League’s top scorer with five goals. Team-mate Takumi Minamino, who scored a hat-trick in Trondheim, is one behind him alongside Apollon Limassol's Emilio Zelaya.

The coaches
• Previously Salzburg's youth team boss, Rose stepped up to the senior helm after Óscar García left in June 2017, having led the club to victory in the 2016/17 UEFA Youth League. A defender with home-town club VfB Leipzig, Hannover and Mainz, he has been on Salzburg's coaching staff since 2013 and oversaw the club's fifth successive Austrian Bundesliga title as well as a run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals during his debut campaign in the top job.

• Rangnick returned as RB Leipzig coach in the summer of 2018, having held the position in 2015/16 when he led the club into the Bundesliga. He has been the club's sporting director since 2012, his appointment having come after a premature departure from Schalke, where he was working for the second time following a highly successful sojourn at Hoffenheim during which he secured back-to-back promotions. He is set to be replaced as Leipzig coach by current Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann in 2019.