Red Star Belgrade vs Sassuolo Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Sassuolo’s rise to prominence in Italy has been a rapid one. Sassuolo played their first-ever Serie A match in August 2013 and now, just three years later, they have achieved Europa League qualification after finishing 6th in the Serie A last season. Their Europa League campaign began in the third qualifying round tie against Swiss side Luzern a few weeks back. Sassuolo drew 1-1 away in the first leg, their first competitive match of the new season, but dominated the second leg with a 3-0 win at home. Italian striker Domenico Beradi was clinical throughout this leg, scoring three of Sassuolo’s four, and continued his form with the opener in the reverse fixture of this tie. Confidence should be high for the Italian side heading into the second leg with a 3-0 aggregate lead after a dominant first leg performance.

Red Star Belgrade (AKA Crvena Zvezda) are nowhere near as dominant as they were in their glory years. Red Star famously won the Champions League in 1991 but this season find themselves once again knocked out before the group stage, a feat they haven’t achieved since the 2007/08 season. Consequently, Red Star Belgrade enter the UEFA Europa League here in the playoff stage. Despite their disappointing performances in Europe, the Serbian SuperLiga reigning champions are already six matches into their domestic season and look sharp. Red Star have taken five wins and a draw from their first five matches, and sit three points above 2nd placed Vojvodina atop the table.

Red Star Belgrade have known problems at the back, with coach Modrag Bozovic’s rotation of players often causing uncertainty. Red Star conceded in all four of their UEFA Champions League matches before they were knocked out, including in both ties against Valletta from Malta who are a much weaker side. Red Star were kept afloat by their ability to also score goals, scoring exactly two goals in each of their four Champions League matches (two 2-1 wins, one 2-2 draw and one 4-2 defeat). While Sassuolo are the much less experienced side in European competition, they are the stronger team and have made some decent signings to further improve over the summer (see team news). Sassuolo also have a high number of goals scored per game, but will likely take a more set back approach defending their 3-0 advantage. Sassuolo remain the favourites for this fixture but Red Star Belgrade will certainly not go down without a fight. Considering their home form and the home advantage here, we expect things to level out evenly on the pitch.

In that regard, a draw at 23/10 and a 1-1 draw at 11/2 with bet365 seem really decent bets for this Europa League playoff second leg.