Mexico vs Serbia Prediction: El Tri to end their World Cup preparations on a high

Mexico's final friendly before co-hosting the FIFA World Cup sees them face Serbia in Toluca on Friday (3am BST/ 8pm Thursday local). El Tri edged out Australia in their last match on Sunday, making it five victories from their previous seven outings.

Serbia are not going to the World Cup and they were humiliated by Cape Verde, who are going to the tournament, in a 3-0 defeat last time out. Below you will find my Mexico vs Serbia predictions, aided by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Cesar Montes and Jesus Gomez could start in central defence ahead of captain Edson Alvarez for Mexico.

Santiago Gimenez is likely to start up front for El Tri, but veteran Raul Jimenez is an alternative option to lead the line.

Football Odds

Serbia's side might be overhauled after the embarrassing defeat against Cape Verde.

Nikola Simic, Lazar Randelovic and Ognjen Mimovic may be handed starting opportunities as a result.

Mexico vs Serbia Odds

Mexico are the 1/4 favourites to win here and they have five victories from their previous seven outings.

The draw is on offer at 4/1, while Serbia are a high 11/1 to come out on top.

El Tri have scored the first goal in each of their past three fixtures and they are 2/9 to repeat this feat on Friday.

To Win To Nil - Mexico @ 8/11

Mexico are in fine form ahead of co-hosting the World Cup, 40 years after they sole-hosted the 1986 edition. They have more to gain from this friendly against Serbia, but given the visitors' last result, and the climate of where this game is going to be held, El Tri look the best bet for this contest.

To improve the odds, I've gone for the hosts to win to nil, which they have accomplished in five of their previous seven games, including each of their last two. This was also a successful bet in the sole meeting between the two sides, with Mexico running out as 2-0 winners in another friendly back in 2011.

Total Goals - Under 2.5 @ 11/10

Under 2.5 Goals was a winning selection in that last encounter, and I think it's worth backing to strike on Friday. This market is valued at 11/10, which has an implied probability of 47.6%.

This offers good value to punters because six of Mexico's six most recent fixtures have featured fewer than three goals, including each of their previous four.