Portugal will lock horns with Serbia in a crunch Group A clash of World Cup Qualifiers.
Venue: Estádio da Luz
Key statistics
- Portugal and Serbia are level on 17 points at the top of Group A.
- Selecao’s five-match winning streak came to an end after a stalemate against Ireland days ago.
- Serbians haven’t dropped a point in their last three games, with their recent victory coming against Qatar in a friendly.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic is Serbia’s top scorer ( 7 goals) in Qualifiers and fifth overall in the charts.
Head to Head record
The Portuguese have been undefeated in their last seven games against Serbia, claiming three victories and four draws.
Recent form
Portugal: W W W W D
Serbia: W D W W W
Portugal
Portugal held to a goalless draw against Ireland days ago, which halted their impressive five-match winning run.
Nonetheless, they will look to take advantage of their impressive home record – 3 wins in their last three games – on Sunday when they face an equally potent Serbian side.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a stunning hat-trick against Luxembourg last month and will look to make a big impact against the Serbs. A win will take Fernando Santos’ side closer to the World Cup qualification.
Manchester City trio Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva are in good nick of form and will play a big part against the Serbs.
Possible Portugal line-up
Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes; Joao Moutinho, Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes; Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota
Serbia
Serbia will look to leapfrog Portugal and claim the top spot in Group A on Sunday.
From Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the midfield to Dusan Vlahovic in the attack, the Serbians have the arsenal to upset the 2016 Euro winners.
They are coming on the back of the 4-0 win against Qatar in the friendlies, where Sasa Lukic, Milinkovic-Savic, Dusan Tadic, Luka Jovic and Vlahovic found the scoresheet.
Possible Serbia line-up
Predrag Rajkovic; Stefan Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic; Filip Kostic, Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Nemanja Radonjic; Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic
Prediction: Portugal 1 – 2 Serbia
