Prime-Time First TD Bets — Monday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
Serbia World Cup Team Preview
Serbia
FIFA Ranking: 21
Manager: Dragan Stojkovic
Federation: UEFA
Group: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
Odds to win World Cup: +5500, FanDuel
Odds to win Group G: +600, FanDuel
Odds to advance in Group G: +120, FanDuel
How did Serbia qualify for the World Cup?
Serbia won their group in UEFA’s World Cup qualifiers giving them an automatic spot into the field in Qatar. They did not lose a game throughout the period.
Who is Switzerland’s most important player?
Dusan Tadic
Tadic has the most appearances for Serbia on the roster, and he is also the most experienced. He is the leader on the pitch who plays an important role on both ends of the field. He would be extremely difficult to replace if he was to be absent. Tadic will try to control the midfield and is one of their most important creators on the field with six assists throughout qualifying. Serbia has a good group of attackers who could have a productive tournament if Tadic is on his A game.
What are Serbia’s strengths, weaknesses, style of play and form?
Stojkovic is on record saying he wants to play an attacking style of play which is smart because their attacking group is their strength. With an awesome forward duo in Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic and two talented wingbacks in Filip Kostic and Andrija Zivkovic, they possess some serious attacking firepower.
Their biggest weakness will be their defense where they lack the same kind of talent that they have in the attack. The good news is that they have enough goal scoring upside that they can afford to give up a goal or two and still get decent results especially with two weaker attacking teams in the group in Switzerland and Cameroon.
Serbia rounded into form at the end of World Cup qualifying and into the Nations League this summer where they lost just one of their six games.
What is Serbia’s World Cup Outlook?
Serbia are likely going to finish two or three in this group. I believe that they are better than Switzerland on paper. For Serbia, it is all about making it out of the group. Anything can happen after that especially if their defense can remain solid because they have what it takes up top to challenge some of the better teams in the field in the knockout stage. I think this squad can make a run into the quarterfinals or further.
Best Serbia World Cup Bet
Group G runner-up +190 is my favorite pre-tournament Serbia bet.
Serbia Projected World Cup Roster
GK: Marko Dmitrovic, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Predrag Rajkovic
DF: Srdan Babic, Strahinja Erakovic, Filip Mladenovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Milos Veljkovic
MF: Marko Grujic, Nemanja Gudelj, Ivan Ilic, Filip Kostic, Darko Lazovic, Sasa Lukic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Uros Racic, Andrija Zivkovic
FW: Filip Duricic, Luka Jovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Nemanja Radonjic, Dusan Tadic, Dusan Vlahovic
Group A | Ecuador Senegal Netherlands Qatar
Group B | Iran Wales USA England
Group C | Mexico Saudi Arabia Poland Argentina
Group D | Tunisia Denmark Australia France
Group E | Japan Germany Costa Rica Spain
Group F | Croatia Morocco Canada Belgium
