UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying: Serbia vs Portugal preview

UEFA Nations League winners Portugal return to regular duty in the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign, they visit Serbia at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade on Saturday in a match that could have serious consequences in the Group B table. The two sides have already met during this campaign, the reverse fixture was played in Lisbon earlier this year and it ended 1-1. Portugal have won two of the last five direct meetings, while the other three all ended 1-1. 

Serbia had a solid start to the campaign, the 1-1 draw in Portugal gave their fans quite a bit of expectations for the following matches. Unfortunately things went south quickly as they were hammered 5-0 in Ukraine in June. Serbia did recover three days later with a 4-1 home win over Lithuania, but they need results agains the big teams in the group if they want to qualify. New Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic is the star of the team, he is expected to play despite not having scored any goals this season. 

Portugal have claimed another piece of silverware this year, they secured the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League just three years after having won the European Championship. With that track record it would be unthinkable for them to miss the 2020 final tournament, but they still have to record the right results. So far they recorded two draws, both at home, against Serbia and Ukraine. Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix are both expected to play, while central defender Pepe is injured. 

Probable line-ups: 

Serbia: Dimitrovic - Rukavina, Milenkovic, Spajic, Kolarov - Tadic, Milinkovic-Savic, Matic, Kostic - Jovic, Mitrovic

Portugal: Patricio - Cancelo, Fonte, Dias, Guerreiro - B. Silva, Carvalho, Neves, Rafa - Ronaldo, Felix

My prediction: 

This should be a tight match between arguably the best two teams in the group. Portugal have to secure a win sooner or later, but I think Serbia will be able to hold them to yet another 1-1 draw. 

Here are the odds for the match at NetBet: 

Serbia win - 3.50

Draw - 3.25

Portugal win - 2.15