Larne vs Red Star Belgrade Prediction: Visitors’ European goal trend to continue

Larne are into the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time and they have a tough tie against Red Star Belgrade. The first leg comes on home soil this Tuesday (8pm BST).

Read on for my Larne vs Red Star Belgrade predictions, including the latest team news and match odds from Betfred.

Team News

We could see a similar Larne side to the one that defeated Tre Fiore last Tuesday, so Montel Gibson would be deployed in attack alongside Matthew Lusty and Conor McKendry.

Daniel Bent's versatility allows him to play a variety of roles including centre-back, but he may be stationed further ahead in a midfield role against Red Star.

Rade Krunic was taken off due to injury in Red Star's opening league game against Macva Sabac on Friday. He's not yet been ruled out of this clash but he is a doubt at this stage.

Bruno Duarte struck twice in that 5-0 success, so he should be brimming with confidence for this European encounter.

Larne vs Red Star Belgrade Odds

Given their respectable performance in last season's UEFA Europa League, it's not surprising to see Betfred mark Red Star as the heavy 1/7 favourites.

Larne did win both legs in the previous round, though, so their 14/1 price does look tempting.

The draw can be backed at 6/1, while Over 2.5 Goals is valued at 8/15.

Total Goals - Under 3.5 @ 8/13

Not one of Red Star's games since the start of the UEL league phase last term had more than three goals. I can see this trend continuing in Northern Ireland. Larne did well in the last round and now they are in uncharted territory against a club with plenty of experience at this level.

I think the visitors should have the quality to come through this contest but the goal threshold markets are of better value than the away victory. As such I'm covering Under 3.5 Goals, which has also landed in five of Larne's previous six competitive outings.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 6/4

Red Star's defensive organisation was well-documented in Europe last term. The Serbian outfit conceded just six goals during the league phase, and so this will be a huge challenge for Larne to overcome.

That being said, I am liking the look of BTTS - Yes at 6/4 (implied probability of 40%). This has been a successful bet in two of Red Star's three most recent competitive matches, while this was also a winner in Larne's home leg against Tre Fiori a week ago.