Serbia meet England in their opening Group C match of UEFA Euro 2024 at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen.
Depending upon the result of Slovenia’s clash against Denmark, victory could put Serbia or England top of Group C.
Team News
Serbia have no fresh injury concerns to report coming into the tournament with a full squad available for selection.
England have no fresh injury concerns to report but Jude Bellingham is set to start after he missed both warm-up friendlies, due to his involvement in Real Madrid’s Champions League title success.
Luke Shaw remains sidelined with a muscle injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Serbia face England at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, at 9pm CEST (8pm UK Time), live on BBC1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Serbia’s first-ever meeting against England in all competitions.
- This match will mark the first time that Serbia have played in this competition as an independent country, having been previously part of Yugoslavia then FR Yugoslavia/ Serbia & Montenegro teams.
- Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions have won one of their last five matches coming into this tournament (W1, D2, L2).
- Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has scored in two of Serbia’s last three matches (W2, L1).
Prediction
Although results aren’t exactly consistent, Serbia certainly can’t be underestimated given their firepower with players like Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Tadic certainly expected to cause issues given their quality, but it is pivotal that Serbia cut out their defensive errors.
England meanwhile were simply lacklustre in their friendly loss to Iceland with a toothless attack and a lack of midfield spark, but I do expect them to react here with a full-strength team and Bellingham to boost their attacking intensity.
I however can’t see a clean sheet for either team but if England roll up and showcase their rich attacking play, they should really scrape a win but this won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Prediction: Serbia 1-2 England
Result: Serbia 0-1 England