- Red Star are the in-form home side, with 3 wins and 1 defeat from their last 4 at home.
- Plzen's 2 draws and 1 defeat in their last 3 away games hardly inspires confidence in the visitors.
- The market makes Red Star a 2.0 favourite, Plzen 3.65 and the draw 3.6.
Red Star are playing their best football of the new campaign
FK Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) enter this fixture as the in-form side with 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats in their last 10 games in all competitions. The Belgrade giants have been playing their most cohesive football under coach Dejan Stanković, since the Serbian SuperLiga 2025/2026 campaign began. Their home form has been especially impressive with 4 wins and 2 defeats from their 6 home games in all competitions so far. Red Star are a fast-paced, high-press, counterattacking side by nature, but Stanković has added a compact shape, an immediate counter press and the ability to change tempo when on top, in order to control the territory in games.
Crveno-beli will be eager to carry that momentum into this fixture against FC Viktoria Plzen, after comfortably beating FK Novi Pazar 2-0 at home, prior to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in their UEFA Champions League Qualification 2026 fixture.
Plzen are solid, but not setting the world on fire
Viktorka are the exact opposite to Red Star in terms of their recent form with 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats in their last 10 in all competitions. Martin Hysky has brought an organized 4-man defence and a disciplined midfield structure to the club since taking charge on 15 October 2025. Hysky has also implemented selective pressing triggers based on where the ball and the opposition are on the pitch. Viktorka are a solid side with nothing spectacular about them, a formula which has made them hard to beat, but slightly blunted in terms of the results they're achieving.
Plzen's last 5 matches reads as a poor 0 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats, however they enter this game on the back of a two-game draw streak, after a 1-1 home draw with FC Zbrojovka Brno and a wild 5-5 draw away to FK Teplice in the 1. Liga 2026/2027.
Red Star have the momentum to push through
Plzen are a decent side with a good structure and role discipline, however Red Star are the better side, more capable of exploiting space on the break and more adept at taking their chances. Red Star can and will dominate territory when on their game, so I feel that Plzen will need to play a gritty and disciplined game in order to edge this one. I feel Red Star have the attacking momentum and finishing quality to nick this, which is why I'm backing the home side in the outright market. Plzen should be able to keep it closer than the odds suggest, due to their structure and discipline, however.
