England vs Serbia

England’s potentially historic Euro 2024 campaign kicks off this weekend at the Veltins Arena with their first-ever clash against Serbia.

Serbia failed to shine in Euro 2024 qualifying, but a runner-up finish to Hungary in their group proved enough for their first-ever Euros appearance as an independent country. Dragan Stojkovic’s men have amends to make after crashing out of the 2022 World Cup group stages despite outscoring their group rivals, including Brazil. With Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic leading the line, scoring isn’t a problem for the Eagles, as most recently witnessed by a 3-0 demolition of Sweden in their final warm-up fixture. However, prone to conceding in abundance, they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in ten of their last 12 internationals, which could spell trouble against a star-studded England side.

Expectations are at an all-time high as England bid to erase the memories of an infamous Euro 2020 heartbreak and finally win their first European Championship title. Widely considered the leading candidates to conquer the tournament, the Three Lions enjoyed a stellar qualifying campaign, finishing atop Group C without a single loss (W6, D2). Such was the narrative of Gareth Southgate’s first Euros in charge of England, as they didn’t concede a goal en route to a top-table finish in their Euro 2020 section (W2, D1). Low scoring has been a common theme in England’s recent games at the Euros, with seven of their last eight featuring under 2.5 goals in regulation. Their final warm-up fixture for Euro 2024 followed the same pattern, though they finished on the receiving end of a 1-0 scoreline against Iceland at Wembley, pouring pressure on Southgate to deliver in Germany.