Brazil vs Serbia

The bookies’ favourites to lift the World Cup in Qatar this year are in action on the evening of Thursday 24th November when Brazil take on Serbia at the Lusail Iconic Stadium – The largest stadium in Qatar and one of eight venues that has been converted for this year’s tournament.

Brazil are expected to do well in this competition which isn’t a huge surprise given the wealth of talent they have throughout their squad. Vinicius Junior, Casemiro, Fabinho, Éder Militão, Marquinhos and of course Neymar are just a few of the big names that we’ll see on the pitch throughout the tournament. They’ve been drawn into group G along with Switzerland, Cameroon and their first opponents, Serbia and although they are fully expected to progress, the other teams should be treated with respect.

Serbia topped their qualification group on the way to the finals, finishing ahead of Portugal by picking up 20 points from 8 games. They’re priced at 4/5 to make it through to the knockout stages of the competition and they’re certainly within a chance of doing so.

They’ll be looking to Juventus forward Dušan Vlahović for goals throughout the tournament and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get on the scoresheet throughout the group stages given the centre-forward has bagged 23 goals in 34 appearances in Serie A this season along with another 4 goals in 8 games across the Italian Cup and the Champions League. Aleksandar Mitrović should also be on your radar from a betting perspective given the Fulham forward bagged a hugely impressive 43 goals in 44 appearances this season for Fulham which is a new record for the most goals scored in a 46-game English league season and was previously held by Guy Whittingham for Portsmouth in 1992-93. Obviously, the Brazilian team will be a step up from those faced in the Championship but nonetheless Mitrović should pose a threat should he get chances. However, although he’s fully recovered from an ankle injury, Mitrović is expected to start on the bench in this match.

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Brazil are 1/2 to win their opening match which was to be expected and I think they make a good addition to an accumulator at those odds.

I certainly think that Serbia will score goals in this tournament but I’m not confident enough to back them to do so against Brazil who have kept clean sheets in 18 of their last 25 matches.

Brazil -1 at odds of 7/5 is another bet I’d consider.

Brazil 3-1 at odds of 12/1 is my pick. Brazil will have to be on top form to secure a win but if they are, they should have a number of chances in front of goal and have the quality in their players to finish them.

However, Serbia are also dangerous up front, Mitrović may start on the bench but Vlahović is a great player and I wouldn’t put it past him to find the net in this year’s World Cup.

Although I’ve tipped 3-1, the Both Teams To Score market is something I’d leave for this game. Brazil have only conceded in 7 of their last 25 games but Serbia are a very good team and an in-form Aleksander Mitrovic will be looking to add to his impressive tally of 50 goals in 76 appearances for his country should he get game time.

Neymar, Richarlison, Raphinha and Firmino are just a few of the names on the Brazilian team sheet that are more than capable of finding the net. Neymar (43/10) is the obvious choice but if you’re looking for a selection at bigger odds, Vlahović (12/1) has to be in with a shout to liven up the game early on.

There aren’t a huge number of bets that stand out to me in this game but I do fancy Brazil/Brazil in the HT/FT market which is priced at 27/20. If Brazil can head into the interval with the lead, I can’t see them losing it in the second half and so I think that’s one bet I’d be willing to take a chance on.

With Brazil likely to have the majority of the possession, Serbia could find themselves chasing the ball. Therefore, Serbia to receive the most cards seems like a sensible bet.

Brazil vs Serbia Lineup

The lineups for Brazil vs Serbia will be published closer to kick-off.

Brazil expected starting lineup:
Alisson; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Sandro; Casemiro, Paqueta; Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius Jr; Richarlison

Serbia expected starting lineup:
V. Milinkovic-Savic; Milenkovic, S. Mitrovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Gudelj, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Jovic

Brazil World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Man City), Weverton (Palmeiras)

Defenders: Dani Alves (Pumas), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Seville), Bremer (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham)

Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Neymar (PSG), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

Serbia World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrovic (Sevilla), Predrag Rajkovic (Mallorca), Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino).

Defenders: Stefan Mitrovic (Getafe), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Strahinja Pavlovic (Red Bull Salzburg), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Filip Mladenovic (Legia Warsaw), Strahinja Erakovic (Red Star Belgrade), Srdjan Babic (Almeria).

Midfielders: Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Sasa Lukic (Torino), Marko Grujic (Porto), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Uros Racic (Braga, on loan from Valencia), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Ivan Ilic (Hellas Verona), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Darko Lazovic (Hellas Verona).

Forwards: Dusan Tadic (Ajax), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Filip Duricic (Sampdoria), Luka Jovic (Fiortentina), Nemanja Radonjic (Torino).