Russia - Serbia predictions and free betting tips [21/03/2024]

Today as part of a friendly match, the Russian national team will face the Serbian national team. The meeting will begin with a minute's silence in memory of commentator Vasily Utkin, who tragically passed away earlier this week.

Russia

Under the direction of Valery Karpin, for all proper reasons, Russia has not participated in any official matches since November 2021 and was banned by UEFA from the qualifying tournament for Euro 2024. Last year, Russia played eight friendly matches, winning only three of them, including an 8:0 annihilation of Cuba in November — Oblaykov, Golovin, Miranchuk, Silyanov, Sobolev, Prutsev, Mostovoy all scored. In addition to the Serbians, the tricolours will measure forces in a friendly duel with Paraguay, while the further match schedule for the summer is yet unknown. The coaching staff called a relatively inexperienced squad of 29 people for the upcoming camp: only five players boast more than 15 matches for the national team.

Three of them - Monaco's Alexander Golovin, Atalanta's Alexey Miranchuk and Haur's Daler Kuzyaev are sure to hit the field from the first minutes. Real Sociedad's winger Arsen Zakharyan will also contend to start, and Fedor Chalov, Konstantin Tyukavin and Ivan Sergeev will compete for the central striker position. However, some questions to Valery Karpin regarding the squad are still raised: for instance, why wasn't midfielder Maxim Glushenkov called up. Interestingly, there's a noticeable competition for the goalkeeper's position: Andrey Lunev was a step away from helping Qarabağ sensationally knock out Bayer from the Europa League, but more than likely, we will see Matvey Safonov guarding the goalposts.

Serbia

Serbia begins preparation for Euro 2024 after successfully qualifying for the tournament in Germany, finishing second in Group G. The "Eagles" garnered 14 points in eight rounds but were forced to concede the palm of the championship to Hungary, suffering home and away defeats from the white-red-greens, and trailed their Central European rival by four points. Dragan Stojkovic has been leading the Serbian national team for just over three years and won 20 out of 35 matches, although only two of these victories were achieved in the last seven matches of the previous year. Moreover, the Balkans have scored a whopping 38 goals in their last 20 matches in all tournaments (including friendly matches) but also conceded a lot - 22. Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic and Salzburg defender Alexa Terzic were left out of the squad due to injuries.

Chelsea's goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic will compete for a starting spot with Predrag Rajkovic and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, while Srdjan Babic, Strahinja Erakovic, and Erhan Masovic are ready to play in the three-man defence along with Nikola Milenkovic and Strahinja Pavlovic. Sergey Milinkovic-Savic, Sasha Lukic, Filip Kostic and Dusan Tadic are contesting spots in midfield, while goalscoring record-holder Alexandar Mitrovic, who has scored 57 goals in 87 matches, will lead the attack. Despite his departure from Europe, the bulky forward has had a fantastic season: scoring 20 goals and providing five assists in 21 Saudi Arabian league matches; eight more goals and two assists came in the Asian Champions League.

Head-to-head

Russia drew with Serbia in their last two friendly encounters (1:1), but teams exchanged home victories (3:1 and 5:1) in the UEFA Nations League.

Prediction for the Russia - Serbia match

It's been a while since the Russian team had such a formidable opponent. The Serbs will arrive in Moscow with an optimal squad, except for Vlahović, - however, they have suitable replacements for the Juve striker. However, the support of the home stands will doubtlessly inspire Karpin's charges to perform miracles - I suggest a bet on a draw.