Red Star Belgrade vs Young Boys Predictions

It was never going to be easy for Crvena in Switzerland, though the Serbians fought hard, scored two vital away goals and walked away level. Now back on their own patch, Vladan Milojević’s men will fancy themselves to finish off the job. Young Boys must now avoid defeat and score at least twice on the road after failing to take full advantage of playing at home a week ago.

At this stage, given what is at stake, the only thing that matters is the result. In that case, Crvena will be massively happy with what happened last week. However, if we forget the result and scratch beneath the surface, then it’s easy to feel that the Serbians were fortunate to leave Bern on level terms.  Young Boys were by far the most productive side, while they created the greater chances, as they posted 3.67 expected goals for, which tells us that Crvena were not hard to break down. Crvena also struggled to match their opponents in terms of creativity, as they posted only 1.08 expected goals for. Such numbers firmly suggest that the side commonly known as Red Star Belgrade were very lucky to score twice, avoid conceding more than two goals and avoid defeat.

By drawing 2-2 at home, Young Boys have given themselves something of an uphill struggle, though they ought to go into Tuesday’s game in confident mood. Things didn’t really go their way a week ago, but after what was nothing short of a commanding performance, Gerardo Seoane’s men should fancy themselves to do well on foreign shores.

Back on their own patch, Crvena may well do a better job of keeping their opponents quiet, but last week’s effort doesn’t exactly bode well. Milojević’s side looked very weak defensively, as they surrendered 23 shots, eight shots on target and a whopping 3.67 expected goals. The hosts will also need to improve offensively, as their efforts last week weren’t great, despite what the result would have us believe. 1.08 expected goals for is hardly menacing.

From a betting point of view, ‘Young Boys to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ stands out as a viable option. There was lots to like about the way in which Young Boys attacked against a weak-looking Crvena back-line a week ago, so much so that Tuesday’s visitors, who could hardly have been more on top in terms of attacking play/chances created, look a good price to notch at least twice. The hosts gave far too much away in the first leg, while they’ve not exactly avoided presenting teams with lots of chances at home, as they surrendered 1.86 expected goals against a weak Suduva team earlier in qualifying.