Lille – Red Star Belgrade Tip Europa League, play-off first leg on Thursday, 19/02/26 at 21:00
Marko Arnautovic spent most of February on the bench, but in his last appearance for his current employer a few days ago, he immediately showed perhaps his best game of the season (1 goal, 1 assist).
According to my Lille Red Star Belgrade tip, it didn’t take too long for me to decide on a first-class sports betting app for the selection Arnautovic meets at odds around 3.25.
Because the OSC has definitely seen better days, has already fallen victim to the Serbs in this year’s Europa League league phase – and guess who scored the only goal of the game on this occasion?
Lille vs. Red Star Belgrade AI Predictions:
In the course of my research on the best football bets that might be worth making on Thursday for this match, I asked for an independent Lille Red Star Belgrade AI prediction in parallel.
After all, our digital football brain usually has sensible betting ideas in store – by the way, also in this case, I can tell you that much!
Because if the promising AI pick 1st Goal: Red Star actually arrives, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise even at attractive odds of around 2.82 – at least not in my eyes.
OSC may have beaten Freiburg in 2026, but that was also their only win since New Year’s Day – and the “Dogues” have already experienced a few false starts in this period!
Predicted chance of winning:
| Victory Lille |
Draw |
Victory Red Star Belgrade |
| 57.7% |
22.8% |
19.5% |
The optimism I have about the second AI tip – Over 2.5 goals at odds around 1.75 – is one of the reasons why I decided to score Marko Arnautovic in the first place.
Because Lille have scored in 19 European games in a row, I expect a rather eventful course of the game, which will be characterised by many goals and chances on both sides.
The biggest deviation from our digital betting friend, however, lies in the prediction of the possible outcome of the game.
While I’m considering making a DnB bet on the guests from the Balkans, our AI clearly recommends winning OSC Lille at odds around 1.60 at selected bookmakers with a German license.
Certainly not my favorite pick, but what admittedly speaks for it is definitely the fact that Red Star has never won a European Cup match as a guest in France (2 draws, 7 defeats).
What you need to consider when betting on Lille vs. Red Star Belgrade
- Home advantage against France curse: Red Star have never won a European away game in France (7 defeats, 2 draws) and have conceded at least two goals in each of these nine games
- After a strong start to the competition, Lille have been waiting for a win in five knockout games – the French want to end the negative run of four defeats and a draw at home
- Belgrade’s teething troubles: The Serbs have won only one of their last twelve first legs in major European knockout rounds; moreover, no team still in the competition has scored fewer goals in the first half this season (only 2)
- Olivier Giroud phenomenon: The 39-year-old scored in his last two Europa League games for Lille and, with 18 goals after the age of 30, is one of the most efficient “seniors” in the history of the EL
