Serbia play their last match of the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign on Sunday, when they host Ukraine at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, but unfortunately for the hosts qualification is not entirely in their hands. In the reverse fixture group leaders Ukraine hammered Serbia 5-0 and that also was their fifth consecutive win over the Serbs. Moreover, Serbia were unable to score any goals in those five matches against Ukraine.
Serbia can still finish second and qualify from Group B, they are just one point behind second-placed Portugal and both teams have one game left to play. However, Portugal will play a much easier game at the same time, they visit fourth-placed Luxembourgh who have won just one match so far in this campaign. Serbia have to beat Ukraine and hope that Luxembourg will pull off a miracle against Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates, but getting a good result against the group leders could also count for the players' morale for future campaigns. Filip Kostic and Milan Pavkov are not part of the squad for this match due to injuries.
Ukraine had a superb campaign so far, they dominated the group and collected six wins and a draw from their seven matches. Moreover, they have conceded just two goals so far and have won the last six matches. In October they sealed their qualification with a fine 2-1 victory at home against favourites Portugal, so they will be playing at their third consecutive final tournament of the European Championship. Taras Stepanenko is suspended for this match, while Moraes, Marlos and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all injured.
Probable line-ups:
Serbia: Dmitrovic - Milenkovic, Nikola Maksimovic, Kolarov, Mladenovic - Nemanja Maksimovic, Milivojevic - Tadic, Milinkovic-Savic, Ljajic - Mitrovic
Ukraine: Pyatov - Bolbat, Karavaev, Matvyenko, Sobol - Bezus, Sydorchuk, Kovalenko - Yarmolenko, Besedin, Tsygankov
My prediction:
What will happen in this match will most likely depend on what will happen in Luxembourg vs Portugal, if the Portuguese manage to open the score early then Serbia will most likely be affected. However, if Portugal fail to break the ice in Luxembourg, then Serbia will be encouraged to push forward. I think that Serbia are capable of getting a 2-1 win here, also considering that Ukraine have no motivation to put on a fight.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Serbia win - 1.80
Draw - 3.80
Ukraine win - 4.25
