SERBIA – SWITZERLAND | Friday, 20:00
Considered by some as one of the possible surprises of this World Cup, Serbia have confirmed themselves as a talented but absolutely indecipherable team. And like four years ago in Russia, they are now in danger of again missing out on qualification for the knockout phase of a World Cup. Ironically, Dragan ‘Pixie’ Stojkovic’s men will have to face Switzerland in the deciding match: drawn in the same group at the time, in 2018 it was the Swiss who blocked the Balkan side’s path to the final stage, when they were put back into the lead by goals from Xhaka and Shaqiri, both of Albanian-Kosovar origin and both of whom were the protagonists of a jubilant celebration that caused a lot of controversy. Mitrovic and his team-mates have a chance to ‘avenge’ that painful defeat in Qatar, but they have no alternative but to win in order to overtake Murat Yakin’s Swiss side.
While Switzerland are on three points and can even afford to draw – assuming that Cameroon, in the other match, do not get the better of Brazil, already qualified and almost certain of first place – Serbia have just one point like the Africans, are currently at the bottom of the standings and in the last day they must win to be able to see the finish line of the round of 16. It is a difficult win-or-go-home situation, caused mainly by some ill-considered defensive choices in the match against Cameroon, in which the Serbians conceded two goals after taking a 3-1 lead. Of the solidity they showed in the opener against Brazil, in short, there was no trace.
Switzerland may have less talent, but so far they have been more consistent and organised than Serbia. It withstood the Brazilian siege for over 80 minutes, surrendering to Casemiro’s great goal but leaving the field with its head held high. It had kept its goal unbroken in its debut match against Cameroon, which it beat 1-0 thanks to a goal from Cameroon-born centre forward Embolo. Defensively, then, nothing to say. Yakin has a few problems in attack: the total number of shots on goal can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Serbia-Switzerland: latest line-up news
Sommer and Xhaka
Against Cameroon, two of Serbia’s key men came to the fore: Milinkovic-Savic and Mitrovic, who both scored. Stojkovic is still counting on them and on the quality of Tadic, who as usual will take his place in the three-quarter. Another bench then for Juventus’ Vlahovic, not yet at his best as the coach explained. The coach’s only doubt concerns the defence, where it will be necessary to monitor the condition of Pavlovic, who came off with muscle problems on Monday in the challenge against the Indomitable Lions.
On the other hand, Yakin will field his Switzerland team in a 4-2-3-1 and the starting line-up is likely to be identical to the one that faced Brazil. The only difference is the return of Shaqiri: the former Inter player has recovered and will start from the 1′ instead of Rieder.
The prediction
Serbia have no opportunity to make any calculations. It needs the three points if it wants to overtake Switzerland and continue its adventure. The script for this match is easily predictable: Stojkovic’s men on the attack in an attempt to find the way of the goal as soon as possible. At the back, however, they will certainly concede something, exposing themselves to the risk of counterattacks: that is why it is very likely that they will both score in a challenge that promises to be lively, especially in the second half. It is also not to be ruled out that tempers will flare, in the light of what happened four years ago: watch out for yellow cards.
The likely line-up for Serbia v Switzerland
- SERBIA (3-4-2-1): V. Milinkovic-Savic; Milenkovic, Veljkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Maksimovic, Lukic, Kostic; Tadic, S. Milinkovic-Savic; Mitrovic.
- SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Xhaka, Freuler; Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas; Embolo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
