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Euro 2024: England vs Serbia preview and betting tips

By on June 13, 2024

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England kick-off their Euro 2024 campaign when they take on Serbia on Sunday June 16th at the Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen.

The Three Lions head into the tournament this summer as one of the favourites but preparations haven’t gone according to plan. England needed late goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane to secure a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina before losing 1-0 to Iceland at Wembley Stadium last Friday night.

It was a hugely disappointing performance from the England players as they managed just one shot on target despite boasting 69% of the possession. Gareth Southgate insisted after the game that there was no need to overreact, but the pressure is already on the players to respond and get off to a positive start when they take on Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener on Sunday.

The Serb’s head into the game without the same weight of expectation but they’ll be quietly confident of picking up a positive result against England this weekend. If Serbia can avoid defeat, they would be well positioned to qualify from Group C with games against Slovenia and Denmark to come.

Serbia finished off their Euro 2024 preparations with an impressive 3-0 win over Sweden. Dragan Stojkovic has lots of quality in their squad, particularly in attack with Alexandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic causing problems, so they shouldn’t be underestimated.

Betting odds and tips

England are many bookmakers favourites to win Euro 2024 so it’s no surprise they are heavily backed to win their opening game against Serbia. Betting sites such as India 1xBet have England priced at 2/5 to claim the win on Sunday. Serbia are 13/2 to cause a shock while the draw is available at odds of 7/2.

There should be goals in this game and 1xBet India is offering odds of even money that both teams will score. If we combine that bet with an England victory, the odds increase to 23/10.

Over 2.5 match goals is also a tempting bet that can be backed at odds of 17/20. Harry Kane is the dangerman in attack for England and he’s 3/1 to open the scoring in this game.

A 2-1 England victory is available at odds of 13/2. If we combine that with Kane scoring first in a 2-1 win, the odds increase to 32/1.

Key players to watch

Harry Kane

The 30-year-old comes into Euro 2024 off the back of a superb debut season with Bayern Munich that saw him score 44 goals and provided a further 12 assists in 45 games. He may have ended up trophyless in his first year in Germany, but Kane proved he is still Europe’s most deadly No.9 and he’s tipped to challenge for the Golden Boot at the Euro’s. Kane was starved of service against Iceland and no doubt Serbia will try to do the same on Sunday. Southgate needs to figure out how to get the ball to Kane in the area as goals will surely follow.

Aleksandar Mitrovic

The former Fulham striker will be familiar with playing against the English players from his time in the Premier League, and the likes of John Stones and Marc Guehi know how much of a handful Mitrovic is. The 29-year-old is now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia where he averaged a goal a game for Al Hilal, so Mitrovic will certainly keep the England backline on their toes this weekend.

Possible line-ups

England XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Trippier, Rice, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Saka, Bellingham, Kane

Serbia XI: Rajković, Mladenović, Milenković, Pavlović, Stojić, Lukić, Milinković-Savić, Ilić, Mitrović, Živković & Vlahović

Predicted score

England’s preparations for the tournament have been a shambles. Injuries to key players such as Luke Shaw, John Stones and Harry Maguire has left the defence exposed. Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford and James Maddison were all left out of the squad due to poor form during the second half of the season, so England look a little inexperienced in attack.

However, there is no denying the Three Lions still have lots of quality throughout their squad and are rightly among the bookmakers favourites to go all the way. Serbia like to attack and that could play into England’s hands as it may leave space for them to exploit. A cagey start but we’re expecting England to get the job done. England 2-1 Serbia