Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade will lock horns in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, with third position in Group G on offer for the two sides.
Both teams have collected just one point from their four matches in the group stage, but if there is a winner on Tuesday, that side will secure third spot in the group and a position in the Europa League.
Match preview
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Young Boys are the team currently at the bottom of Group G, having picked up just one point from their four matches, with their draw coming away to Red Star Belgrade at the start of October.
The Swiss outfit opened their group-stage campaign with a 3-1 home loss to RB Leipzig, while they were beaten twice by Manchester City in their most recent games in the competition, going down 3-1 at home and 3-0 away, with the team short of the quality required to match the reigning champions.
Young Boys would secure third spot in the group, and a position in the Europa League, if they win on Tuesday, but a draw would see the fight go to the final matchday, and Raphael Wicky's side arguably have the easier match, heading to RB Leipzig, while Red Star Belgrade will host Man City.
The reigning Swiss champions finished fourth in their last participation in a Champions League group stage, which came in 2021-22, but they did play in the Europa League in 2020-21, progressing to the last-16 stage of the competition before losing to Ajax.
Young Boys will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 loss to Zurich in the Swiss Super League on Saturday, which has left them second in the table, two points behind the team that they were beaten by last time out.
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Red Star, meanwhile, will enter this contest off the back of a 2-1 victory over Vojvodina on Saturday, and they are also second in their domestic table, three points behind the leaders Partizan Belgrade.
The Serbian outfit opened their Champions League group-stage with a 3-1 defeat at Man City, before playing out the 2-2 draw with Young Boys on home soil.
The Red-Whites have lost their last two in the competition to Leipzig, but both matches were relatively close affairs, losing 3-1 in Germany before suffering a 2-1 defeat in their clash in Serbia earlier this month.
Barak Bakhar's side, as mentioned, would secure third position in this section if they were able to collect all three points on Tuesday night.
Red Star played in the Europa League last season but were unable to make an impression, finishing fourth in Group H, but they did reach the knockout round of that particular competition in 2021-22, losing to Rangers.
Team News
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Young Boys will be without the services of Sandro Lauper through suspension, with the 27-year-old sent off in his side's defeat to Man City in the competition last time out.
As a result, there could be a position in the XI for Darian Males, who was given the nod from the first whistle against Zurich in the league on Saturday.
Kastriot Imeri and Cedric Itten will miss the match for the home side through injury, with the latter's absence a huge blow due to the fact that he has scored seven times this season, but leading goalscorer Jean-Pierre Nsame is available and will start through the middle.
As for Red Star, head coach Bakhar could have a full squad to choose from, with the team not reporting any injury concerns in the build-up to the match.
Jean-Philippe Krasso and Osman Bukari have managed 14 goals between them in all competitions this season, and the pair will again feature in the final third of the field for the visitors.
Both sides are likely to line up with five defenders in this match, and Red Star's defensive unit should include the hugely experienced Austria international Aleksandar Dragovic.
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Racioppi; Janko, Amenda, Camara, Benito, U Garcia; Elia, Niasse, Males, Ugrinic; Nsame
Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup:
Glazer; S Mijailovic, Djiga, Dragovic, Rodic, Lucic; Kanga, In-Beom, Ivanic; Krasso, Bukari
We say: Young Boys 1-1 Red Star Belgrade
There is not a huge difference when it comes to the quality of these two teams, and we are expecting Tuesday's clash to be a tight affair. A draw would take third position in the section to the final matchday, and both teams might be forced to settle for a share of the spoils in this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
