Red Star Belgrade v FC Krasnodar Betting Tips: Another high-scoring encounter in Belgrade

The first leg of this Europa League tie was an entertaining affair and finished in a 3-2 victory for Krasnodar. Perhaps more importantly though, this result meant that my two tips of 333/100 and 5/4 came off!

Red Star were not given the chance to recover from that defeat in south Russia as their weekend match at Borac Cacak was postponed. Having said that, this postponement means that the Serbian side go into Thursday’s match with fresher legs.

As I mentioned in that tip for the first leg, the Red-Whites have been excellent at both ends of the pitch this season and, even with that loss in Krasnodar, they have still scored 30 goals and conceded just seven in all competitions. Having said that, the fact they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last two outings is a bit of a concern.

Belgrade is undoubtedly one of the most hostile venues in European football – something Red Star certainly take advantage of on the pitch. Vladan Milojevic’s men have a 100% record at Stadion Rajko Mitic in their six matches all competitions this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding just one in the process. Additionally, Crvena Zvezda have a good home record in the Europa League with three wins in their last three outings and just one defeat in the competition on home turf since August 2011.

Krasnodar are on a fairly decent run at the moment and are still yet to lose in this calendar month. Having said that, their 0-0 draw away at Rostov at the weekend means that they have now failed to register back-to-back victories in their last seven outings.

The Bulls are certainly one of the more attacking sides in Russia goalscorers in the Russian Premier League. However, this mentality means that their defence has suffered with that clean sheet at Rostov being their first in seven attempts. Krasnodar’s backline has also been poor in European football with Krasnodar now failing to keep a clean sheet in their last six matches.

Igor Shalimov’s men really struggled on their travels last season with just eight victories in all competitions – a win ratio of just 30%. That has improved this season with seven points taken from a possible 12 in the league so far. However, they still have a poor away record in Europe with just one win and no clean sheet since September 2016.

Both of these sides are known for their goalscoring exploits this certainly manifested itself in the first leg. I expect this to be a similarly high-scoring game but, in terms of a result, I find this one hard to call. Krasnodar are the better side on paper but, given Red Star’s fantastic home record in both domestic and European football, they could easily get a result here. The fact that the bookies have priced the two sides similarly (both at 6/4 at some outlets) demonstrates that they are also having trouble predicting this result. As alluded to earlier, a result-neutral goals bet seems to be the best to go for here. I have decided on Over 2.5 Goals Total at the relatively good price of 4/5.