Rangers in Pole Position for Quarters
Rangers, the darlings of the Europa League, are all set to advance to the quarterfinals barring complete disaster. Red Star Belgrade enters this match 3-0 and needs a miracle to keep their European hopes alive.
Hosts Red Star are the favorites according to the soccer odds, but only by a half-goal for Thursday’s match. It’ll take much more than that just to force extra time.
Let’s check the latest news, stats, injury reports, and Europa League odds for Red Star vs Rangers. We’ve plenty of predictions for you to consider.
Red Star Not Starring in Europa League
Ohi Omoijuanfo has proved to be a stellar signing for Red Star Belgrade. The Norwegian striker, who scored 54 league goals for Molde in 81 matches, scored the opener in Red Star’s 2-1 win over Metalac in the Serbian League on Monday.
He’s now scored in five of his seven appearances since joining the Serbian League leaders in January and could be key in this matchup. He joins a forward line that also includes Aleksandar Katai and Milan Pavkov, who have averaged 0.96 and 0.71 goals per 90 minutes, respectively, in the Serbian League.
Red Star are level on points with Partizan in the league and have won seven consecutive Serbian matches. Last week’s loss was their first in all competitions since November and they haven’t won in their last three Europa League matches. Despite not being a great pick for betting online, they still managed to sneak ahead of Braga in first in Group F to get a first knockout-round bye.
Rangers Continue to Impress
It was unclear how Rangers would respond to Steven Gerrard taking the Aston Villa job, but they’ve been excellent lately. They’re just three points behind Celtic for the SPL lead and Giovanni van Bronckhorst has done an exemplary job as coach.
Knocking out Borussia Dortmund in the first knockout round of the Europa League was a very big deal, even if they were missing Erling Haaland. The Rangers won as +600 underdogs and picked up a draw in the second leg, which was listed as +330. The Light Blues outscored Dortmund 6-4 over two legs and have averaged three goals per game in the knockout stage.
The Rangers have lost just one away match since September, a 3-0 loss to Glasgow rivals Celtic, and have been one of the best soccer picks lately. With one win, two draws and a loss in four Europa League away matches, the Rangers are capable of pulling off a result here. All they really need to do to advance is avoid embarrassment.
Red Star Belgrade vs Rangers Head-to-Head
The Rangers improved to 4-2-2 all-time vs Red Star Belgrade with a massive 3-0 victory in Scotland last week. James Tavernier opened up the scoring with a penalty in the 11th minute and Alfredo Morales added a second minutes later. Leon Balogun added a third in the second half to continue Rangers’ excellent run.
It was the first meeting since 2007, when Rangers advanced in the third qualifying round of the Champions League 1-0 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade vs Rangers Game Information
- Game: Red Star Belgrade vs. Rangers F.C.
- Location: Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia
- Day/Time: Thursday, 1:45 p.m. ET
- Live stream: fubo.tv
Red Star Belgrade vs Rangers Betting Lines
| Team | Handicap | Moneyline | Total | Team Total |
| Crvena Zvezda | -½ +105 | +105 | 2½-120o | 1½-105o
1½-125u |
| Rangers | +½ -135 | +265 | 2½-110u | ½-230o
½+180u |
| Draw | +250 |
Red Star Belgrade vs Rangers Prediction
Last week, the Rangers easily covered the ½-goal spread as favorites and are an excellent 6-3 ATS in this season’s Europa League. Red Star Belgrade, on the other hand, are 3-3-1 ATS.
Ianis Hagi and Steven Davis are expected to miss this match for Rangers, while attacking midfielder Veljko Nikolic is nursing an ankle injury for Red Star. Injuries won’t affect the game too much and we could see very similar lineups to last week.
Having also scored three goals vs Dundee at the weekend, the Rangers are flying high on offense and they could once again pose a threat. They certainly didn’t let up in the second leg vs. Dortmund and I don’t expect that here either.
Red Star are ½-goal favorites at +115, which seems like a risky proposition. These knockout stage games where one team is comfortably ahead after one leg are a bit difficult to predict. I’d definitely stay away from Rangers +½ at -145 and would only take it at -125 or better.
Where I am noticing a bit of value is in the total. Red Star have only been shut out at home once since November and I assume they’ll at least put up a bit of a fight here. The Rangers, for what it’s worth, have found the net in 11 consecutive games and their streak should also continue.
That said, I’d go with over 2½ goals for online gambling and expect neither team to back down.
