England will look to build on their win against Iceland and continue their Euro 2024 campaign against a Serbian team led by Dragan Stojkovic, which presents them with an imposing aerial threat.
Dusan Tadic will lead the scoring attack for the visitors, alongside Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic – former Southampton star Dusan Tadic will likely also feature for Fulham as will Juventus midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. In this article, we will discuss the main points of Serbia National Football Team vs England National Football Team Lineups.
England
England will look to build on their impressive 2-0 win against Croatia in Group A’s inaugural match, yet Serbia pose an immense threat with their strong squad and can present significant problems to any opponent.
Serbs are well known for their fast, direct style of football that features high levels of technical ability combined with aggressive attacking flair. Although their defensive performance wasn’t impressive during recent qualifying, they still reached this tournament and presented an interesting challenge.
Manager Dragan Stojkovic has several options in midfield for Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Tadic alongside Luka Jovic from Juventus; these three players pose a great threat to any defence while Lazio striker Sergej Milinkovic-Savic also excelled during Nations League campaign.
Serbia’s wingers should fill both defensive and offensive roles when not playing their preferred attacking roles. Their wide forwards boast an excellent shot-taking percentage in the final third and can provide quick counter-attacking opportunities, while Serbia ranks highly for forward passes so will often try to move the ball quickly down either flank.
But it will likely be their defensive responsibilities that determine this matchup. With Predrag Rajkovic and Nikola Milenkovic leading their backline – both adept at three-man defense. Furthermore, both boast impressive post-shot xG ratios which mean they can control possession while restricting opponent scoring opportunities.
Kieran Trippier will likely start at left-back again unless Luke Shaw is fit, though England coach Roy Hodgson may opt for one of Kobbie Mainoo or Conor Gallagher – one of his newer options – to partner Trent Alexander-Arnold instead.
Southgate’s Lineup
Gareth Southgate is known for being a daring selection manager when selecting his squads. Anyone arguing that Southgate is too cautious should bear in mind that he swapped out Joe Hart for Jordan Pickford at the 2018 World Cup and included 19-year-old Bukayo Saka against Slovenia at Euro 2024.
Southgate will put his bold streak to the test as he narrows down his 33-man squad to just 26 players for this tournament. Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier appear certain starters at full back while John Stones, Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi could feature significantly in defense.
Managers have several midfield options at their disposal for selecting their starting 11 this season. Trent Alexander-Arnold has been impressive since returning from injury, yet may no longer fit as an experimental central midfielder role. Jude Bellingham may be more suitable in that capacity while Declan Rice and Cole Palmer offer energy in attack respectively.
Southgate will consider players such as Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, who provide both comfort in possession as well as forward momentum. He may err more on the side of caution in defence, where Southgate has less flexibility.
Defense must stop Serbia’s lethal forward line from coming too close to the penalty area. Ivan Perisic excels at finding space behind striker Dusan Mitrovic while Dusan Tadic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic provide speed.
Defense midfielders must also be capable of neutralising the Serbian counter-attacking trio of Aleksandar Romal, Goran Olmo and Aleksandar Ruiz as well as disrupt Rodri, who has scored three times this tournament and should play an instrumental role.
Serbia
Serbia enter Euro 2024’s opening match against England as underdogs and many believe they won’t advance beyond group stage play. They could still cause some surprises, though, so an impressive start to their campaign is essential if Serbia are going to make any headway further in this competition.
Dragan Stojkovic’s squad features both experienced and young players with potential, including Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic and Torino midfielder Dusan Vlahovic who have both shown great form for their respective clubs; former Fulham player Aleksandar Mitrovic and Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic offer quality up top.
Serbs will likely employ a 3-4-1-2 system featuring wing-backs. Sasa Lukic and Filip Kostic have performed admirably this season for their respective clubs while Dorde Petrovic (formerly of Chelsea) and Nemanja Gudelj represent depth options. Mallorca goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic has shown impressive signs in his international career to date.
Gareth Southgate has made four changes from his team that lost to Iceland in their final warm-up game, in particular selecting Marc Guehi as central defender in preference to John Stones, while Trent Alexander-Arnold moves into midfield alongside Declan Rice alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right flank, Phil Foden takes over on right wing replacing Ryan Bertrand on right wing with Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka sitting out.
England fans will likely be talking about Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea winger who has shown great promise this season and can make an immediate impact at this level of football.
First half was relatively quiet with England dominating possession but struggling to create scoring chances. Finally, hosts’ broke the deadlock when Jude Bellingham scored from close range after a deflected Bukayo Saka cross was deflected into his path by Bukayo Saka himself. Second half proved more lively; Gareth Southgate’s side came closest to equalising when Manchester City star Harry Kane struck an impressive shot, only for it be denied by an excellent save from goalkeeper.
Tactical Analysis
Serbia have experienced dramatic transformation since their last encounter with England at a major tournament, boasting Premier League stars Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic in their squad as well as former Chelsea midfielder Dorde Petrovic, Fulham forward Sasa Lukic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Manchester United.
Serbia can be difficult to deal with when its attacking parts come together, making the team an intimidating opponent. They’ve proven they can take advantage of any mistakes or miscommunication with opponents as evidenced against Ghana, when Asamoah Gyan scored an acrobatic winner late on.
Serbs face challenges on defense; no player in their top 25 of clean sheets is featured and their overall defensive xG percentile falls short, which could prove costly if they seek to go far into tournament play.
However, Serbia have the players necessary to overcome such challenges. They boast an attack featuring two of Europe’s top goalscorers in Mitrovic and Jovic and rank highly for forward passes – two indicators of an aggressive mindset which should help Serbia push ahead against England.
As well as that, they also possess one of the strongest aerial duos in world football – 33% of their qualifying goals came via headers – which could create major problems for England if they’re not careful.
Gareth Southgate may opt to employ a more direct approach in his game against Serbia by unleashing Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, both possessing pace to stretch defences. Furthermore, Southgate should encourage his midfielders to switch positions more often to create space between themselves and players such as Jovic, Lukic and Milinkovic-Savic for effective link up play.
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