Preview:Red Star Belgrade vs Lincoln Red Imps - prediction, team news, lineups

Red Star Belgrade will be looking to take a big step towards Champions League qualification when they host Lincoln Red Imps at the Rajko Mitic Stadium this Tuesday night.

The Serbian giants, who are looking to qualify for the European competition for the third successive season, have a 1-0 lead going into the second leg following a conservative victory over in Gibraltar last week.

Match preview

At first sight, Red Star’s slim win in Gibraltar does not seem very impressive – especially when you consider the gulf in quality between the two teams.

The Serbian outfit expectedly dominated proceedings but lacked clinical finishing and were also weakened by Seol Young-woo’s early sending off.

Vladan Milojevic and his men took out their frustrations on OFK Beograd in the Serbian league over the weekend, smashing the fellow Belgrade side 7-1 to underline their early status as league leaders.

Red Star shift their attention back to continental duties this Tuesday night as they look to take another step towards Champions League qualification – a tournament that they have competed in for the last two seasons.

Last year, the Serbs endured a disappointing season in the European elite, losing six matches in the newly established league phase. They also picked up a couple of notable wins against Germany’s VfB Stuttgart and Switzerland’s Young Boys.

Lincoln, on the other hand, will have taken a lot of encouragement from their first leg performance against their Serbian opponents.

While the Red Imps remain massive underdogs in this tie, Juanjo Bezares and his men will be determined to give another good account of themselves on the continental stage.

Lincoln have never progressed past the second qualifying round in the Champions League and were demolished 7-0 by Qarabag FK at this same stage of the competition last season.

In fact, the club have only ever entered the main draw of a top European competition on one occasion, with Lincoln progressing to the Europa Conference League group stage back in 2021.

Red Star Belgrade Champions League form:

Red Star Belgrade form (all competitions):

W W W

Lincoln Red Imps Champions League form:

W W L

Team News

Red Star Belgrade will be without influential South Korean full back Seol Young-woo, who is suspended after picking up a straight red card in the first leg.

Bruno Duarte, who scored the only goal in the first match, is expected to lead the attack, having bagged 18 goals in 34 appearances for the club.

Lincoln Red Imps are not expected to make too many changes following an encouraging display in last week’s match.

One change could come in the forward line, with Juanje potentially replacing Victor Villacanas in the starting line up.

Tjay De Barr, who is the club’s leading goalscorer in Europe over the last few years, is expected to lead the attack.

Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup: Matheus; Gobeljic, Veljkovic, Dragovic, Tiknizyan; Kangwa, Krunic, Ivanic; Katai, Mitrovic, Bruno

Lincoln Red Imps possible starting lineup: Santana; Sergeant, Chipolina, Walker, Annesley; Ronan, Hernandez, Munoz; Juanje, De Barr, Kike

We say: Red Star Belgrade 4-0 Lincoln Red Imps

Lincoln Red Imps impressed in the first leg, but doing the same away from home will be a far stiffer task.

Red Star Belgrade have demolished their last two opponents in the league, and we are expecting the Serbian outfit to turn on the style in this upcoming second leg.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.