Red Star Belgrade and Trabzonspor will face off against each other in a matchup in Serbia on Thursday. Everything still up for grabs in the remaining two rounds of games in the group stage of the Europa League.
The away team is now in second place with six points after four games played, while the home team will be working hard to overtake them despite having just one victory to their name thus far.
Our Match Preview: Red Star Belgrade vs Trabzonspor
Red Star Belgrade is in the Europa League group stage after failing to qualify for the Champions League. Maccabi Haifa won their playoff 5-4 on aggregate thanks to a Milan Pavkov own goal in the second leg.
After that late anguish, The Red-Whites set out to at least move to the knockout round of Europe’s secondary league, but they had a sluggish start, losing 1-0 at home to Monaco and then 2-1 on Thursday to stay pointless after two matches.
Milos Milojevic’s team won their first game at home against Ferencvaros, 4-1, with goals from Guelor Kanga, Stefan Mitrovic, and Aleksandar Katai. However, they lost 2-1 in Hungary after Mitrovic had drawn them level in the second half.
Red Star Belgrade have extended their perfect start to the Serbian SuperLiga with three more straight triumphs, most recently overcoming Radnicki Nis 2-1 courtesy of a brace from Aleksandar Pesic, who scored the winner in the 97th minute.
With only two group games left and a three-point margin to overcome, Serbia needs a win on Thursday to keep in contention for second place and a position in the Europa Conference League knockout round.
They face Trabzonspor, which hopes to narrow a three-point difference to win the group and the lone round-16 spot.
The Turkish Champions also went out of Champions League qualification in the playoff round, but following a loss to Ferencvaros, they put their first Europa League points on the board with a 2-1 win against Red Star Belgrade.
Abdullah Avci’s team lost 3-1 at Monaco, but they stayed in contention by thumping them 4-0 at home in the opposite encounter. Vitor Hugo, Enis Bardhi, and David Trezeguet scored in the second half.
Karadeniz Firtinasi is two points off the top of the Turkish Super Lig following a 1-0 win against Sivasspor thanks to a Hamsik strike.
Trabzonspor is now in the second position in the group, which would put them in the Europa League knockout round. To boost their chances of advancing, they must win and hope the group leaders slip up.
Our Team News: Red Star Belgrade vs Trabzonspor
Aleksandar Pesic, who has eight goals for the season across all competitions and scored the crucial brace in their most recent league win against Radnicki Nis, will once again lead the attack for Red Star Belgrade. This triumph came in the most recent match in the league.
In Milojevic’s favored 4-3-3 formation, it is expected that Aleksandar Katai and Stefan Mitrovic, who has scored two goals in three Europa League games since making the club from Radnicki Nis during the summer, would play on either side of him. Mitrovic has made the transition from Radnicki Nis.
Guelor Kanga is another key attacking threat coming from the midfield. He has scored eight goals so far this season, including two in the group stage. Both of those goals came in the victory over Ferencvaros.
Sekou Sanogo and Mirko Ivanic could potentially join him in the engine room. Guelor Kanga is another key attacking threat coming from the midfield.
Maxi Gomez, a summer addition who was a striker for Trabzonspor, will not be available for Thursday’s trip since he is still serving a ban for the Europa League that he received after receiving a red card early in their loss to Monaco away from home.
It is recommended that in his absence, Umut Bozok take the reins of the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Players like Anastasios Bakasetas and Enis Bardhi should be on standby to provide further offensive assistance.
Marek Hamsik, a veteran of the Slovakian national team, is expected to start alongside Jean-Philippe Gbamin at the base of the midfield. Meanwhile, Trezeguet, who joined the club in the summer after playing for Aston Villa, will be a threat on the wing.
Trezeguet has scored five goals since his arrival in the summer; two of those goals came in the group stage, and three of those goals came in the Turkish Super Lig.
- Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup: Borjan, Gobeljic, Dragovic, Erakovic, Rodic, Kanga, Ivanic, Sanogo; Katai, Pesic, Mitrovic.
- Trabzonspor possible starting lineup: Cakir, Turkmen, Bartra, Hugo, Elmali, Hamsik, Gbamin; Trezeguet, Bakasetas, Bardhi, Bozok.
Our Prediction: Red Star Belgrade 1-1 Trabzonspor
Even though Red Star Belgrade hasn’t played particularly well so far in this year’s group stage, the Turkish champions still have a difficult trip ahead of them on Thursday for a game that is sure to be fiercely contested.
This is because the battle for second place is somewhat dependent on the outcome of this match.
Even though Milojevic’s team will most certainly need all three points, we predict that the match will conclude in a draw. The home team may not be strong enough to defeat their visitors, and we see the match ending in a tie.