Solid start for the defending champions?

On Tuesday evening, defending champions Manchester City return to the Champions League group stage. The Sky Blues will be up against another former overall winner of this competition. Crvena zvezda won the European Champions Cup in 1991, but have lost all six of their away games in the top flight since the tournament was renamed the Champions League, scoring 2:22 goals. Accordingly, there is no alternative to betting on the Cityzens for Manchester City against Red Star Belgrade.

The Sky Blues remained unbeaten in the Champions League last season (eight wins, five draws) and left little to be desired thanks to the scoring threat of superstar Erling Haaland, who secured the top scorer’s crown in the top flight with twelve goals. The Norwegian, who has not scored in any of his last three Champions League appearances, should also be hungry for goals. The prediction for Manchester City against Red Star Belgrade is therefore that it will be a high-scoring affair between the two teams.

Manchester City – Statistics & Current Form

Since Pep Guardiola took over as Manchester City coach in the summer of 2016, everything at the club has been focused on one big goal: finally lifting the trophy. After the Sky Blues initially fluffed in the decisive games year after year, this mission was finally successfully completed this summer.

Accordingly, the 2022/23 season was historic for the Cityzens, who won the Champions League as well as the Premier League and the FA Cup. This prestigious triple is now to be followed up in 2023/24.

Perfect start in the Premier League

In the Premier League, the north-westerners, who have already won the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla in the still young season, are already back on track. Five league games, five wins, 14:3 goals – that is the record of the Cityzens, who are the only club to have achieved the maximum in the Premier League and thus top the table.

Now they will also be looking to kick off their Champions League campaign, in which the Sky Blues have gone unbeaten in all 13 games (eight wins, five draws) in the 2022/23 title season.

Part of the Champions League for the 13th year in a row

The odds are heavily stacked in favour of Guardiola’s Manchester City against Red Star Belgrade as they take on a Serbian club for the first time in their history.

Meanwhile, in favour of the Sky Blues, who are now making their 13th consecutive Champions League group stage appearance and have reached the knockout stages ten times in a row recently, is the fact that only one of the last 28 defending champions in the top flight has lost their opening group game in the following season – Liverpool in 2019/20 against Napoli (0-2).

Predicted Manchester City line-up:

Manchester City (Expected line-up) 4-2-3-1

Red Star Belgrade – Statistics & Current Form

Red Star Belgrade football club – also known as Crvena zvezda – won the national championship in Serbia this summer for the ninth time in the club’s history. Before that, however, the Crveno-beli (the Red and Whites) had already won 19 national championships in Yugoslavia and five titles in Serbia and Montenegro.

The club from the Serbian capital also won the European Champion’s Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League, in 1991. A coup that was even topped off by winning the World Cup at the time.

Lost all six Champions League away games by 2:22 goals

At present, however, the Serbian champions are far from such European stardom. Since the Champions League began, Red Star Belgrade have only made it to the group stage twice, both times without a chance.

Crvena zvezda have lost all six of their away games in the Champions League so far, conceding 22 goals and scoring only two of their own. The chances of Crveno-beli picking up their first point in a Champions League away game at Manchester City against Red Star Belgrade are correspondingly slim.

Recent two away defeats in a row in Serbian SuperLiga

To make matters worse, the reigning Serbian champions also fluffed their dress rehearsal at the weekend. After four wins in the Serbian league at the start, the last two away games were both lost. A 2:3 defeat at Vozdovac was followed by a 1:2 loss at Cukaricki on Saturday.

This leaves Red Star Belgrade in third place nationally, already four points behind leaders FK TSC. Coach Barak Bakhar, who has been in charge since the summer, will have a tough time getting his restructured team back on track in England, of all places, where the Crveno-beli have won just one of eleven international away matches so far (four draws, six defeats).

Predicted line-up of Red Star Belgrade:

Red Star Belgrade (Expected line-up) 3-5-2

Manchester City – Red Star Belgrade Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Never before has there been a competitive international match between the two clubs. For the Sky Blues, it is even the very first encounter with a Serbian club. Consequently, there is no head-to-head data available to influence the prediction for Manchester City vs Red Star Belgrade.

Manchester City – Red Star Belgrade Tip

Manchester City are of course the clear favourites against Red Star Belgrade in all respects. Even a draw would be a minor sensation. A home defeat is almost categorically out of the question in view of the Cityzens’ home strength and the Serbians’ desolate away record in the Champions League. Accordingly, the prize question is really only how the bet on a home win for the Sky Blues can be played most cleverly to get maximum value on the betting slip.

Because a very high-scoring game can be assumed, it seems to us to be most coherent to combine the bet on the home victory of the Cityzens with a bet on over 3.5 goals.