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Serbia national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Oct 17, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Stadion Rajko Mitic
Montenegro national football team

Serbia
3 - 1
Montenegro

Mitrovic (9', 74'), Tadic (77')
Gudelj (49')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Jovetic (36')
Savic (58'), Jovovic (88'), Tomasevic (89')

Preview: Serbia vs. Montenegro - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Euro 2024 qualifying clash between Serbia and Montenegro, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

After losing 2-1 away to Hungary, Serbia will be looking to bounce back in the match against Montenegro in the crucial battle for second-placed finish in Group G.

The first meeting between the two sides ended in a rather convincing 2-0 win for Serbia in March, but with the hosts going into Saturday's game with a very different dynamic after their bitter defeat, the tide could turn in this match.


Match preview

Serbia's Strahinja Pavlovic celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on October 14, 2023© Reuters

The hosts are in a situation where they can no longer afford to drop points, as Montenegro are only two points behind them and have played one game less, therefore even a draw would not guarantee Serbia second place in the group standings after all.

Dragan Stojkovic's side were very unlucky not to at least draw against Hungary as they dominated for large parts of the game, hitting the woodwork three times and failing to convert three of their four big scoring chances.

It was the second defeat for Serbia in the 2024 Euro qualifiers, after they lost to Hungary by the same scoreline the first time in Belgrade over a month ago.

Although the Eagles failed to take advantage of their chances against Hungary, their defensive performance is even more worrying as they have failed to keep a single clean sheet in four consecutive matches.

Serbia's only home win in the Euro 2024 qualifiers was the opening match against Lithuania. It is therefore difficult to say whether the team is better offensively at home than away, but one thing is certain - they will not be able to afford to miss as many clear cut chances on Tuesday night as they did against Hungary.

Montenegro's Igor Vujacic is shown a red card by referee Harm Osmers on September 10, 2023© Reuters

Montenegro, on the other hand, enter this match on the back of a 3-2 win in an international friendly against Lebanon, having been forced to sit out the weekend's qualifier due to an uneven number of teams in Group G.

A win in a friendly means little to nothing when it comes to Euro qualifying, but Miodrag Radulovic's men can go into this game fairly confident, as even a draw would not eliminate them from qualifying for Euro 2024, having played a game less than Serbia.

They remained unbeaten in their last two qualifiers, including a 2-1 win over Bulgaria despite having to play with 10 men for half an hour in the second half, and a 2-2 draw in Lithuania after conceding a goal in stoppage time.

Montenegro are still unbeaten away from home in this qualifying campaign and will do everything they can to maintain that record on Tuesday night.

Serbia Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Serbia form (all competitions):


Montenegro Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Montenegro form (all competitions):



Team News

Serbia players celebrate after Hungary's Attila Szalai scores an own goal and Serbia's first on September 7, 2023© Reuters

Serbia are expected to keep their 3-4-3 formation, but a few changes in personnel by Stojkovic would not be a surprise.

Mijat Gacinovic did not have the best game against Hungary on the left wing and could make way for Filip Djuricic, who came off the bench after an hour on Saturday.

Dusan Tadic was unexpectedly not in the starting XI against Hungary and was only substituted on at half time. The 34-year-old is an important part of Serbia's attack and is expected to regain his place in the starting XI.

Montenegro will have to do without Igor Vujacic, who was sent off for two bookable offences against Bulgaria last month, therefore Zarko Tomasevic is likely to take his place in defence.

Even without Vujacic, they look solid enough defensively to keep this Serbian team in check, but things become much more concerning when we focus on Montenegro's attack.

After Bulgaria, Montenegro are the team with the second fewest goals in Group G, and Nikola Krstovic and Stevan Jovetic will have to step up tremendously in Belgrade on Tuesday to turn it around.


Serbia possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Erakovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Terzic, Gudelj, Milinkovic-Savic; Duricic, Tadic, Mitrovic

Montenegro possible starting lineup:
Mijatovic; Tomasevic, Savic, Sipcic; Marusic, Vukcevic, Jankovic, Bakic, Loncar; Krstovic, Jovetic


SM words green background

We say: Serbia 2-1 Montenegro

A loss to Hungary means Serbia can no longer afford to drop points if they want to qualify for Euro 2024 next summer.

Montenegro have been solid defensively so far in qualifying and could make life difficult for the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Tadic, but at the end of the day they should have too much offensive talent for the visitors to handle.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Serbia vs Montenegro

Serbia
78.3%
Draw
12.0%
Montenegro
9.6%
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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