The starting position
Once again, the cards are clearly distributed on paper. The Red Bulls are top of the table, have won three games in a row recently and put in one of their best performances of the season on Tuesday at home against Hydro Fehérvár AV19. As a result, the Red Bulls have emerged from their mini slump, if you like, with two defeats against Klagenfurt and Vienna in mid-November. This trend should continue seamlessly against the Pioneers, knowing full well that Salzburg have always struggled in Feldkirch (one defeat and one win last season).
This is reinforced by the fact that the team from the Ländle, currently tenth in the table, is performing better than last season and has already beaten several top teams in Feldkirch so far. Linz, Bolzano, Villach and Klagenfurt have already lost there. The Vorarlberg side were also narrowly beaten 2-1 in their last home game against Pustertal.
The opponent
When you talk about the Pioneers, you can't get past Steven Owre. The 27-year-old Canadian moved from the Belfast Giants to Feldkirch in the summer and has hit the ground running. With 18 goals, he is the top scorer in the league and, with 29 scorer points overall, the second-best player after Linz's Graham Knott (32 points, 16 goals) and ahead of Salzburg's Peter Schneider (29 points, 14 goals).
The second-best player from Vorarlberg is the veteran Daniel Woger, who also has 8 goals and 9 assists. Oskar Maier, who left the Red Bulls for Feldkirch in the summer, has 4 goals and 2 assists. The Pioneers have only scored one goal less than the Red Bulls so far, with a total of 69 goals.