Portugal Cannot Afford to Slip-up Against Serbia
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There are two rounds of matches in each Euro 2020 qualifying group this week and the second round of games is going to be very interesting. Group B is going to be one of the most exciting to watch with Portugal, Serbia and Ukraine all fancying their chances of finishing in the top two places and qualifying automatically for the tournament.
Two of these three team meet on Monday 25th March as Portugal host Serbia at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon.
Portugal will already have started their campaign by the time this game kicks-off and will hope to have 3 points on the board having played Ukraine, also at home. This match, coupled with the one over Ukraine gives the Portuguese a chance to take early command of Group B.
The Portuguese have been tough to beat following their 2018 World Cup campaign, which saw them eliminated at the Round of 16 stage by Uruguay. They have played four competitive games in the UEFA Nations League, winning two and drawing two. That resulted in Portugal topping their group and winning a playoff place.
Portugal have also played two friendlies, defeating Scotland away and drawing 1-1 at home with Croatia.
You must go back to 2014 to find the last time Portugal lost a qualifying game at home and since then, trends show they have won eight in a row. There have been wins over Serbia, Denmark and Switzerland and Portugal have scored 2 or more goals in each of their last five prior to the match with Ukraine.
This will be Serbia’s opening match of the group and they could not have asked for a tougher assignment. However, they did play a friendly match in Germany on Wednesday night and came away with a 1-1 draw, which was a good result.
Having become the nation of Serbia prior to the 2008 European Championship, the country has yet to qualify for the tournament and will be looking to change that fact this time around. They are unbeaten in their last seven games, four of which came in the Nations League.
Serbia topped their Nations League Group, winning four and drawing two of their six matches. Two of the wins came away from home at Lithuania and Montenegro.
They have lost only one of their last six away qualifying games but lost their most recent competitive trip to Portugal 2-1 in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Team news and Portugal will be hoping Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Joao Moutinho all come through the Ukraine match without any problems and are fit to start the game.
Serbia have been hit with some injuries to experienced players including Nemanja Matic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Filip Kostic. The in-form Dusan Tadic and striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will be the main attacking threat.
Portugal have a very strong home record and with Serbia missing important players and valuable experience, this is going to be a difficult game for the visitors. Expect to see Portugal win this one and score at least 2 goal in the process.
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