Serbs to thwart Group E winners
Serbia host recently confirmed Group B winners Ukraine in a game they must win, and hope results go their way if they are to qualify for this summer’s edition of the European Championships. The 33rd Fifa ranked nation have put a nice run of four wins from their last five games together in their push for qualification however it is still unlikely with a conditional Portugal loss or draw in Luxembourg being the main barrier. A victory would take their tally to 16 points from eight games which would be enough to progress in most of the other groups in the competition although due to Ukraine’s impressive campaign that humbled them to a 5-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, it seems to be something they will have to take on the chin.
Key men
You cannot look any further than Aleksandar Mitrovic in this one, the Fulhampowerhouse has nine goals in qualification and is the current Championshiptop scorer with nine strikes for the seventh-placed Cottagers. The prolific Serb has 33 goals in 54 appearances for his country making him their top goal getter of all time, at just 25 years old he has already doubled the tally of second placed Nikola Zigic. You can find him at 6/5 to score at any time.
Ukraine are missing Oleksandr Zinchenkoand Yevhen Konoplyanka in this set of fixtures due to injury, a good job they sealed qualification in the last break, so they will be looking to inform Gent attacker Roman Yaremchuk to step up in their absence, after he was rested in their recent friendly with Estonia.
The 23-year-old has added three crucial goals in the campaign, including a particularly important opener in a 2-1 over Portugal in October. He has also been firing on all cylinders in front of goal for Gent who sit second in the Belgian Jupiler League after 14 games. Yaremchukhas found the net 14 times in just 21 matches in all competitions for the Buffalosin 2019/20 and will provide an outlet for Ukraine in a match where all the focus is on Serbia to go for it on home turf.
More to play for
A weakenedUkrainian outfit are playing for pride having already been confirmed as table toppers and you can guarantee Ljubisa Tumbakovic’s side will leave everything out there, in a do or die encounter. The Yellow and Blue’s deficiencies were summed up in their frustrating 1-0 win over Estonia on Thursday and Serbia will make them fight for every ball on Sunday.
Serbia will play for qualification no matter what the score is in Luxembourg and demonstrate their quality by beating the Group E winners, and set the records straight following their 5-0 defeat last time around.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Ukraine messed this tip up with a 93rd minute equaliser, 2-2 it finished with Portugal beating Luxembourg to qualify. The aforementioned Aleksandar Mitrovic and Roman Yaremchuk got on the scoresheet for their respective nations.