Crvena zvezda vs Stuttgart prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-11-26 17:45.
[p]Red Star Belgrade may be dominant domestically, but the picture looks very different in European football. Vladan Milojević’s side are comfortably top of the Serbian SuperLiga table thanks to a run of twelve successive victories, the most recent of which was a 1-0 win over OFK Beograd earlier this month. In the UEFA Champions League (UCL) though, the Serbian club are facing an early elimination thanks to four successive defeats.[/p]
[p]Such a run of form means the Red and Whites, who have never reached the UCL knock-out stages in its modern day format, have extended a miserable record in the post-qualifying rounds of the tournament to 13 defeats in their last 14 attempts (D1). The most recent of those was a 5-2 hammering at the hands of Barcelona, which means they have conceded a competition-high 16 goals ahead of matchday five.[/p]
[p]Attempting to take advantage of that leaky defence will be Stuttgart, whose only previous meeting with a team from Serbia ended in a 2-0 success against Partizan in 2008. A repeat of that result would be most welcome for Sebastian Hoeneß’s side, who have picked up only one victory from their four league phase games so far (D1, L2) on their return to the UCL after a 15-year absence.[/p]
[p]That win came in their last away game in the competition, a 1-0 success at Juventus, which means they head into matchday five just outside of the top 24 in the table. The win in Turin is also the Reds’ only victory on the road in their last five attempts across all competitions (D2, L2), although supporters heading to Belgrade should travel with some confidence after a 2-0 Bundesliga triumph at home to Bochum on Saturday.[/p]
[p]Key battle: It would be a good sign for Red Star if Luka Ilić can hit the back of the net, as he has not lost a game in which he has scored since February 2022 (W13, D3). Standing in his way will be Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, although he has worryingly kept just two clean sheets in his last 17 appearances in European football (W6, D4, L7). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: 11 of Red Star Belgrade’s last 12 matches across all competitions have featured 3+ goals.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]