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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
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