Euro 2024: Serbia v England - Match Preview & Odds
As well as the latest team news, expert betting tips and in-depth match analysis you can find the very best match odds and free bet offers
England begin their Euro 2024 campaign on Sunday evening as Gareth Southgate’s side take on Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. The bookies’ favourites to win Euro 2024 will want to lay down a marker in their first European Championship fixture and here at betting.bet we’ll cover all aspects of this much-anticipated fixture. As well as the latest team news, expert betting tips and in-depth match analysis you can find the very best match odds and free bet offers from our betting partners at William Hill.
Group Stage Summary
England and Serbia have been drawn in Group C of Euro 2024 alongside Slovenia and Denmark. England are inevitably the bookies’ favourites to win the group at 4/11 whilst Denmark come next in the betting at 9/2. Slovenia v Denmark will be played earlier on Sunday afternoon in Stuttgart.
Form
England are without a major trophy since 1966 but there is a real belief that that barren run is about to come to an end. The Three Lions head the outright market ahead of France, Germany and Spain. England’s preparations hit a minor bump in the road last week as they were defeated 1-0 by Iceland in their final warm-up match. One positive to be taken from that abject display is that all members of the England squad came through the match unscathed.
In competitive internationals England remained unbeaten in eight matches throughout 2023, their last notable defeat came at the hands of France in the quarter-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Serbia head to Germany in rather inconsistent form with two wins and two defeats from four internationals in 2024. Serbia’s final warm-up match ahead of this summer’s tournament produced an impressive 3-0 win away in Sweden. Serbia qualified for Euro 2024 in second place in their group having lost both home and away to group winners Hungary.
Serbia v England: Head-to-Head
England and Serbia have only met on one previous occasion and it was England that emerged victorious back in June 2003. England won 2-1 in an international friendly match thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole. England manager Gareth Southgate started that match at the heart of the England defence.
England Team News
England have a clean bill of health throughout their 26-man squad and manager Gareth Southgate has some real selection dilemmas to face between now and Sunday. Jordan Pickford remains England’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper whilst Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and John Stones are nailed on the start at the back whilst Kieran Trippier is likely to get the nod over Luke Shaw at left-back. The final starting berth in the back four is likely to be filled by Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi but both Lewis Dunk and Joe Gomez remain in contention.
Harry Kane will captain the team from attack whilst there are some major decisions to be made in midfield. Declan Rice will anchor the midfield and whilst Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton have both impressed throughout the second half of the season, Liverpool’s full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has been tipped to slot into central midfield.
In Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, England have two of the most talented number tens at the tournament but one of these stars will be shifted out wide on Sunday. Foden from the left, Bellingham through the middle and Bukayo Saka on the right looks the most likely but the likes of Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon certainly merit a place in the England starting XI.
Betting Tips
With greater challenges ahead, England cannot afford any slip ups on Sunday and you have to assume England will win at odds of 4/9. However the defence remains a real concern for the Three Lions which has seen them keep just one clean sheet in their past five internationals. Both teams to score is priced at Evens whilst you can combine both the bets above with England to win and both teams to score incredibly tempting at 12/5.
England have been incredibly slow starters in recent internationals, going behind in five of their last seven internationals. Whilst this could leave them vulnerable in the early stages we think it’s more likely to result in a rather tentative opening first half. Ladbrokes are offering odds of 13/10 for the game to be level at half-time.
We are expecting goals in Gelsenkirchen with two of international football’s most prolific centre forwards set to take to the field. England captain Harry Kane has 63 goals in 91 England appearances and is amongst the favourites to win the Golden Boot whilst Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrovic has 58 goals in his 91 matches for Serbia. Kane and Mitrovic scored a combined thirteen goals in qualifying and will attract huge support in the various goalscorer betting markets. Below is a summary of markets where both Kane and Mitrovic should be considered.
| Harry Kane | Aleksandar Mitrovic | |
|---|---|---|
| To score at any time | 5/6 | 11/4 |
| First goalscorer | 13/5 | 7/1 |
| Last goalscorer | 13/5 | 7/1 |
| To score 2 or more | 9/2 | 18/1 |
| To score a hat-trick | 16/1 | 100/1 |
Match Odds
| Serbia | Draw | England |
|---|---|---|
| 13/2 | 17/5 | 4/9 |
Predicted Match Result: Serbia 1-2 England (7/1)
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