PSV Eindhoven travel to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, hoping to increase their chances of progressing to the next phase of the competition.
The Eredivisie champions are one of the teams nervously looking over their shoulders, as they sit 23rd in the standings - good enough to make the knockout phase playoffs - but they are just one point ahead of the chasing pack.
Match preview
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Having claimed just three points from their six matches so far, the hosts have little room for error if they want to make it to the playoffs for the knockout stages.
With a five-point gap between themselves and the handful of teams that are still mathematically catchable, Red Star need to deliver on Tuesday night.
Their opponents on Tuesday are one of the teams that they can still catch in the standings, therefore a win in Belgrade for the hosts would help in more ways than one.
Having started the league phase with four straight defeats, including notable thrashings against the likes of Inter Milan, Monaco and Barcelona, Red Star took out their frustrations on Stuttgart with a memorable 5-1 success against the Bundesliga side in November.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they could not follow this up in the next fixture, as they were beaten 2-1 by Serie A side AC Milan.
Red Star may have had their struggles in Europe, but domestically they have enjoyed a superb season so far and sit 17 points clear at the top of the Serbian SuperLiga.
Such is their dominance in their home country, that the hosts have won 21 of their last 27 matches in all competitions, with the six defeats all coming in the Champions League.
In addition, they have won 19 of their 20 matches in the league, remarkably outscoring their opponents by 71 goals to 12.
However, they have not been able to replicate this in the Champions League against bigger opposition, with their lone win against Stuttgart very much an anomaly.
Having played some of the toughest opponents possible throughout their European journey this season, they will be more optimistic ahead of fixtures against PSV and Young Boys, with those two sides currently 23rd and 36th in the Champions League standings.
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The visitors come into this match having won 21 of their last 27 league matches, but PEC Zwolle surprisingly got the better of them at the weekend.
That 3-1 defeat is part of a recent minor blip at the club, as they have dropped points in three out of their last four matches in the league.
They also had to come from 3-1 down to Eerste Divisie outfit Excelsior in the KNVB Beker to win a frantic game 5-4 in extra time, just a few days before their defeat in Zwolle.
Despite more challenging times of late, PSV still lead the way in the Eredivisie, with the club currently four points clear of Ajax in the table.
However, the Champions League has been a lot tougher for the Dutch outfit, who failed to win any of their first three matches in the league phase.
Since then, consecutive wins against Girona and Shakhtar Donetsk lifted PSV to eight points, but defeat last time out to Brest leaves them needing to get a win from their trip to Belgrade.
While PSV have won seven out of their 10 away matches in the Dutch top flight, they have not succeeded away from home yet in the Champions League this season, something they will be hoping to change in the Serbian capital on Tuesday.
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Team News
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The hosts have been without Bruno Duarte throughout their winter friendlies due to injury, and he is not expected to feature in this match.
Elsewhere, Peter Olayinka (Achilles) remains a long-term absentee, while Omri Glazer is back in training following an adductor injury.
Meanwhile, the visitors have been without Sergino Dest (knee) since last season and Adamo Nagalo (shoulder) since October.
In more disappointing news for PSV head coach Peter Bosz, Couhaib Driouech is also out for this match due to an ankle injury he suffered back in November, while Malik Tillman and Matteo Dams are suspended for this fixture.
Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup:
Gutesa; Mimovic, Djiga, Spajic, Seol; Krunic, Elsnik, Silas, Milson; Maksimovic, Ndiaye
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Ledezma, Boscagli, Flamingo, Junior; Til, Veerman, Schouten; Lang, de Jong, Bakayoko
We say: Red Star Belgrade 1-1 PSV Eindhoven
The Red Star fans will get behind their team as they always do, which will make it an intimidating atmosphere to play in for the Dutch champions.
PSV have not looked at their best in recent weeks and have found away games difficult in Europe this year, so we think this one ends in a 1-1 draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
