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June 12 2024, 16:15 · Alex Lawes

Serbia vs England Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage

Serbia vs England Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage
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A strong Serbian squad will begin their group stage campaign against UEFA EURO 2020 runners’ up and one of the main favourites for the title this time around, England.

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 16th June, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US EST – 3:00pm / US PST – 1:00pm

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – BBC / US – FOX

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – VIX

SERBIA PREVIEW: THE DANGEROUS SERBS

Under the management of Dragan Stojkovic, Serbia once again head into a major tournament with neutrals believing this could well be one of the surprise packages to keep an eye on due to the quality of their squad. This is, though, their first UEFA European Championships as an independent nation, despite having qualified for the 2010, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

Throughout their team, there is real quality and that is even more pronounced in attack with forward options including Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic. The Serbs come into this opener against England on the back of a handsome 3-0 hammering of Sweden in Stockholm with 36% of the ball and goals from Mitrovic, Dusan Tadic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

ENGLAND PREVIEW: COULD IT COME HOME?

Gareth Southgate is probably heading into his final tournament as England boss – regardless of whether they do finally go on and win a tournament for the first time since 1966. The runners’ up from three summers ago will head to Gelsenkirchen a little concerned about their preparation for a variety of reasons.

The headlines have been dominated by big names being left out or missing through injury, such as Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire respectively, as well as injury concerns over others like Bukayo Saka. The question marks over key positions, such as central defence and central midfield, remain after their 1-0 loss to Iceland at Wembley Stadium last week.

SERBIA TEAM NEWS: TADIC OR NOT TADIC

In their recent friendly with Sweden, Serbia opted for an extra central midfielder ahead of Dusan Tadic and that may be the plan for playing England, allowing the Serbs to play two up-front with Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic forming an exciting strike duo.

PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Petrovic; Stojic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Ilic, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Lukic, Kostic; Mitrovic, Vlahovic

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE:

ENGLAND TEAM NEWS: UNSURE AT LEFT-BACK

There is an expectation that Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is progressing well and could make the second group stage game against Denmark but will be unavailable for this one, whilst John Stones missed Wednesday’s training session through illness. The Manchester City defender has since recovered, though, and is expected to start alongside Marc Guehi at the heart of England's defence.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Rice, Alexander-Arnold; Saka, Bellingham, Foden; Kane

UNAVAILABLE: Shaw (Injured)

QUESTIONABLE: Stones (Illness)

KEY STATS

  • This is Serbia’s sixth EURO appearance and first since EURO 2000. *All previous appearances were as Yugoslavia.
  • Serbia have won only one of their last 11 EURO matches (D2 L8).
  • Serbia have only failed to score in three of their previous 14 EURO matches.
  • There has been a total of 61 goals scored in Serbia’s previous 14 EURO matches. An average of 4.4 goals per match.
  • There has been at least five goals scored in five of Serbia’s last six EURO matches. Seven goals were scored in each of their last two fixtures.
  • The only previous EURO final tournament meeting between Serbia/Yugoslavia and England was a 1-0 victory for Yugoslavia in the 1968 semi-finals.
  • Serbia’s coach Dragan Stojković played at EURO 1984 and EURO 2000 (both Yugoslavia). *Serbia/Yugoslavia’s most recent EURO final tournament appearances prior to 2024.
  • This is England’s 11th EURO appearance and fourth in succession.
  • England are unbeaten in their last 11 EURO group stage matches (W7 D4). Since a 2-1 defeat against France in their opening fixture at EURO 2004.
  • Excluding penalty shoot-outs, England have lost only one of their last 18 EURO matches (W10 D7 L1).
  • England have not conceded a goal in their last four EURO group stage matches.
  • England have won their last four matches against Serbia/Yugoslavia. The most recent was a 2-1 victory in a friendly in June 2003.
  • England have won their opening match in only one of their previous ten EURO appearances. The only victory was their 1-0 win against Croatia at EURO 2020.
  • England have only failed to score in three of their last 23 EURO final tournament matches.
  • Excluding penalty shoot-outs, remarkably, the last EURO final tournament match that England lost when they conceded the first goal of the game was at EURO 2000 vs Romania (L3-2).
  • England have lost only one of their last 14 competitive matches (W9 D4).

SERBIA VS ENGLAND PREDICTION

Last week, Serbia went away to Sweden in Stockholm and defeated them by three goals to nil with 38% of the ball. That will be the blueprint to defeat an England team that will be desperately trying to find some rhythm and cohesion on the ball with what is an undoubtedly exciting front six. The issue for the Three Lions, though, is that their shaky defence with Walker out of form, Trippier out of position and both Guehi and Stones yet to prove full fitness, the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic could be lethal on the counter-attack. We may well have our first upset of the tournament in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

SERBIA VS ENGLAND TIP: SERBIA TO WIN