Serbia v Switzerland: Will this be the last flight of the Eagles in Qatar?
Ahead of tomorrow’s group G crescendo, Serbia find themselves two points behind Switzerland. The Serbians must win if they are to have a chance of progressing to the last 16 in Qatar.
The Swiss only require a draw, providing Cameroon don’t cause the mother of all upsets and beat Brazil. Mind you, stranger things have happened during this World Cup…
Fate is not on the side of the Eagles. these two countries met back in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On that occasion, La Nati had to rally late in the game to come from behind. Xherdan Shaqiri scored the winner in the 90th minute.
History continues to look poorly on Serbia. They have lost their final group stage match in two of their last three World Cup campaigns. They conceded at least two goals on each occasion.
Switzerland’s defence will be crucial in this showdown. They held strong against Cameroon and it took Brazil well into the the second half to breach the red wall.
The Swiss are set up for a 1-0 win that comes at some point in the second half. As we’ve seen throughout the tournament, they are comfortable playing without the ball and seizing the odd opportunity that comes their way during the 90 minutes.
When they do play on the break, weapons such as Shaqiri, Breel Embolo and captain, Granit Xhaka have the power to cause all sorts of trouble for defences.
Serbia meanwhile have conceded 5 goals across their two previous matches at this World Cup. They bottled a 3-1 lead that they had over Cameroon and allowed Brazil to walk all over them and score two second half goals, courtesy of Richarlison.
This Serbian team has shown it is not capable of putting a confident 90 minute performance together. Switzerland have demonstrated a far more consistent style of play throughout these group stage games.
While Serbia’s head coach, Dragan Stojkovic has ambitions of turning La Nati into Swiss cheese, it is the Eagles who are facing a daunting challenge ahead of them.
Serbia v Switzerland will take place at 19:00 tomorrow, in Stadium 974.
