FC Krasnodar v Red Star Belgrade Betting Tips: Home side to come out on top in high-scoring encounter

Two Eastern European sides clash in this Europa League playoff tie as Krasnodar, one of the new kids on the block in Russian and European football, host Red Star Belgrade, who actually won the European Cup back in 1991.

After starting the season with three consecutive wins, Krasnodar have hit a bit of a bump in the road lately and they have now failed to record back-to-back victories in their last five outings. However, they are still well in the battle for the European spots in the Russian Premier League as they sit fifth after six matches. Additionally, they have a good record in Europe in recent years having reached the Group Stage of the Europa League in every season since 2014 – qualifying for the knockout stages twice in three seasons.

In Russia, Byki are known for their attacking flair and, even without talismanic striker Fedor Smolov, they are still the third-highest scorers in the Russian Premier League at the moment. 18-year-old academy product Ivan Ignatyev in particularly has been the catching the eye of late. However, in contrast to these attacking strengths and their usual reliability at the back, Krasnodar have been conceding a fair number of goals this campaign and they have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six in all competitions. Furthermore, they have not kept a clean sheet in their last five Europa League games.

Igor Shalimov’s side have a reputation for being excellent at home but they have actually been experiencing a few problems of late. Despite the fact that they are unbeaten in all competitions at the Krasnodar Stadium since March, they could only manage draws against the likes of Ural and Amkar (two of the poorer sides in the Russian Premier League )in their last two home fixtures. However, one positive is that they have scored in all of their competitive matches on home turf this season.

As mentioned previously, Red Star won the European Cup back in 1991 in arguably one of the biggest upsets in European football history. However, they have been unable to follow up on this glory and have now failed to make the Champions League Group Stage since the 1991/92 season whilst they have failed to qualify for the Group Stage of the Europa League under its current guise.

Although they go into this match as massive underdogs, it is certainly worth mentioning that Vladan Milojevic’s men have had a fantastic start to the campaign with a 100% record in the league, putting them top of the table by two points, whilst they have also won all but two of their six Europea League matches.

Crvena zvezda have been brilliant at both ends of the pitch so far this season with 28 scored and just five conceded in all competitions, keeping eight clean sheets in the process. These statistics are obviously incredible but Red Star must now up their levels again, just like they recently did against Sparta Prague in the Europa League, if they want to give themselves any chance of beating Krasnodar.

The Red-Whites have been excellent on their last three away trips, winning to nil in each of them. However, away form in the Europa League has been a big struggle for them over the years. That aforementioned win against Sparta Prague was their first in normal time since July 2012. Having said that, we are arguably seeing a new Red Star now – one that is far more capable away from home. This is shown by the fact they have scored in each of their three European away games this campaign.

Krasnodar are obviously the favourites but I suspect that Red Star could trouble them a bit on Thursday evening. The Russian side have been dodgy at the back recently whilst Red Star have been excellent in the final third. I think 5/4 on Both Teams to Score is generous.

However, if you are looking for something a bit more profitable then I would advise going with Krasnodar to Win and Both Teams to Score at 10/3. Red Star may be in good form but so are Shalimov’s Byki and you have to back them to win on home soil against an inferior opponent.