This is the match that we have been waiting for. Can this young English side that has so much potential actually do the business, or will the Euro24 tournament end up being yet another disappointment?
Getting booed off after a defeat to Iceland in what was meant to be a ‘nailed on’ friendly was not the best of preparations and what on earth was Gareth Southgate thinking of when he left Jack Grealish out of the England squad?
In Serbia, England is facing a team overflowing with pride and passion, so if any England fans think that this game will be a ‘walk in the park’, they could be in for a rude awakening.
Odds and Predictions
England are odds on favourites at 1.45 and when you look at the likely lineups, those odds look to be fair as England can boast of world class players in every position.
The game will be more of a test of character, in our opinion, and unless England notch up a convincing win, the alarm bells will start ringing.
We think England will win and the score will be 2 – 1, at odds of 9.5 that looks to be a pretty good price as tips go.
For those England supporters who can bring themselves to bet on the opposition, we would recommend a bet on Aleksandar Mitrović to score at any time, with odds of 5.0.
If you are rolling your eyes at predictions like this, cast your mind back to how many times Mitrović popped up with a goal when playing for Fulham. We rest our case!
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings between the Teams
We have to admit that we were shocked when researching this game to find out that Serbia and England have never played each other H2H.
There was a match between England and Serbia and Montenegro (head-to-head details below), but that nation-state only existed between 2003 and 2006, after which Serbia became an independent country.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 Jun 2003 | england | 2-1 | Serbia | Friendly Game |
Expected Line Ups
The England lineup is enough to get every England fan excited, and the bench isn’t too bad either, even though it would look even better if Jack Grealish was sitting on it.
For Serbia, every player will have the heart of a lion, so let’s hope the England players show the same passion.
Serbia (3-4-2-1): Vanja Milinković-Savić; Nikola Milenković, Strahinja Pavlović, Miloš Veljković; Andrija Živković, Sasa Lukic, Nemanja Gudelj, Filip Kostić; Sergej Milinković-Savić, Dušan Tadić; Aleksandar Mitrović.
England (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Kieran Trippier; Declan Rice, Conor Gallagher; Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka; Harry Kane.
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
We believe it will be close between Serbia and Denmark, but Serbia will be eliminated in the group stages.
As for the Three Lions, we believe that the team has the capabilities to win the tournament.
You can guarantee that there will be ‘cock ups’ along the way, along with extra time and no doubt penalties, but on the evening of Sunday 14th July, it will be this young England team who will cement their place in history.
