Lincoln Red Imps vs Crvena Zvezda: UEFA Champions League Prediction (22.07.2025)

On July 22, 2025 at 23:00 WIB, the first leg of the UEFA Champions League qualification quarterfinal will take place between Lincoln Red Imps and Crvena Zvezda. Bookmakers heavily favor the visitors in this matchup. Let’s examine the current form of both teams and provide a match prediction.

Lincoln Red Imps

The “Red Devils” are the most decorated club in their country. However, teams from Gibraltar have historically been among the biggest underdogs in European competitions. That said, Lincoln holds a notable achievement — during the 2021/22 season, they became the first and only club from Gibraltar to reach the group stage of a European tournament, participating in the UEFA Conference League. Unfortunately, they lost all six matches with an aggregate score of 2–17.

This season, Lincoln started their European campaign with two victories over Vikingur from the Faroe Islands (3–2 and 1–0) in the first qualifying round. Still, the Champions League level seems clearly beyond their reach, as reflected in the betting odds — the chance of them advancing to the next round is rated above 12.00.

Crvena Zvezda

The Serbian side is far more experienced in European competition. Last season, they played in the main stage of the UEFA Champions League, though they failed to reach the knockout rounds. Crvena Zvezda are regulars in European tournaments and come into this match fully prepared. The Serbian league kicked off on July 19, so the team already has official match rhythm. Additionally, they had a solid preseason campaign. There’s little doubt that the “Red and Whites” will dominate against a comparatively weaker opponent.

Stats and Head-to-Head Record

There is no head-to-head history between the two teams. This will be their first-ever encounter.

Prediction

In the Lincoln Red Imps vs Crvena Zvezda match, we predict a win for the visitors. The class difference between the teams is evident. There’s little doubt the Serbian side will try to capitalize early and set a comfortable score by halftime. Therefore, we suggest betting on Crvena Zvezda to win between the 1st and 15th minute, at odds of 3.48.