Salzburg aim for perfect six against Esbjerg

FC Salzburg could be denied top spot in UEFA Europa League Group C despite winning their first five games, as Esbjerg fB aim to become the fly in the ointment in Austria.

• Both sides will be in the first knockout round draw, but defeat could cost Salzburg top spot and a home game in the second leg of their last-32 tie.

Previous meetings
• Alan struck twice to give Salzburg a comfortable lead when the sides met on matchday one, though a late Pape Paté Diouf goal ensured it was 2-1 by the end of Esbjerg's maiden encounter with Austrian opponents, and Salzburg's first exposure to Danish competition.

• Austrian sides have the edge in the previous 20 UEFA club competition games between Austrian and Danish teams – W9 D4 L7 (W6 D3 L1 in Austria - W3 D1 L6 in Denmark).

Match background
• Tottenham Hotspur FC and Salzburg are the only clubs with 100% records in this season's group stage. Three sides have won all six of their group matches since the advent of the UEFA Europa League: Salzburg (2009/10), FC Zenit (2010/11) and RSC Anderlecht (2011/12).

• Salzburg are on a seven-game winning streak since entering this season's competition in the play-offs.

• Salzburg competed in the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stages, making it through to the round of 32 – but no further – in 2009/10 and 2011/12.

• Esbjerg beat AS Saint-Étienne home and away in the play-offs to make it to their first UEFA club competition group stage.

• Esbjerg have won six of their seven European games this season – all by one-goal margins – the exception being their loss to Salzburg.

Team facts
• Salzburg have had more shots on target than any other side in the group stage: 36 in total.

• Salzburg defender Franz Schiemer is set to make his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition on matchday six.

• Salzburg striker Jonatan Soriano's hat-trick in the 4-0 matchday one win against IF Elfsborg was the 22nd in the UEFA Europa League and, at 35 minutes, the fourth fastest in the competition. Steven Gerrard's 13-minute treble for Liverpool FC against SSC Napoli in November 2010 remains the quickest.

Coach information
• Salzburg coach Roger Schmidt took charge of the club in June 2012. A midfielder in the lower leagues in his native Germany, he combined football with work as an apprentice toolmaker before studying mechanical engineering. He moved into coaching with Delbrücker SC and SC Preussen Münster, before a fifth-place finish in the 2. Bundesliga with SC Paderborn 07 in 2011/12 helped persuade Salzburg to hire him.

• Hired as Esbjerg coach in the summer of 2013 after Jess Thorup moved on to helm Denmark's Under-21 side, Niels Frederiksen took an unusual path into top-flight football. An economics graduate, he worked at a bank while coaching youth teams at B.93 København and Lyngby BK, eventually being hired as the latter club's senior coach in 2009. He led them to promotion in the first of his four seasons in charge.