World Cup Qualifier – Serbia vs England – CopyBet
A win for England in Belgrade would all but seal their place at next summer’s World Cup finals, having enjoyed a 100% qualifying campaign to date.
The football played by the Three Lions might not have been as entertaining as hoped for by the fans, but Thomas Tuchel has led his side to four wins from four in Group K.
England currently sit top, five points clear of their opponents, who have played a game less heading into Tuesday night’s clash.
Serbia vs England
Serbia welcome England to the Rajko Mitic Stadium having won two and drawn one of their World Cup qualifiers so far, including a 1-0 win in Latvia on Saturday.
Dusan Vlahovic’s 12th-minute goal was enough to secure three points and keep alive their hopes of claiming top spot and automatic qualification.
England still have to face Dragan Stojkovic’s men both away and at home, with the pair set to clash at Wembley on November 13th.
The hosts have yet to concede a goal in their three qualifying matches, but a 0-0 draw in Albania at the start of the campaign may prove significant when trying to bridge the gap with England.
Tuchel’s squad have also kept clean sheets in all of their four matches, but have struggled from an attacking perspective.
In back-to-back fixtures against Andorra - who are ranked 174 in the world - the Three Lions have managed to find the net just three times and one of those was an own goal.
A draw would keep both teams on track, England to gain automatic qualification and Serbia to take second spot, which would see them make the play-offs.
Serbia vs England
The last time an England team played in Belgrade was back in 1987, when they beat the then Yugoslavia 4-1 in a European Championship qualifier.
It would be a big surprise if there were five goals this time around, especially when considering both teams’ records so far in this group.
England have scored three or more goals in just one of their last nine international matches - that was a 3-0 home win over Latvia in March.
Meanwhile, Serbia have scored just seven goals in their last eight fixtures, with three of those coming in their home win over Andorra.
It’s also worth highlighting how evenly matched these teams were last time they met, which was in the group stages at Euro 2024.
On that occasion, a 13th-minute header from Jude Bellingham was the only time the ball hit the back of the net and was one of just four attempts on target in the match.