Serbia vs Switzerland Prediction: Europe’s fiercest rivalry returns

These two don’t meet all that often on the international stage, and that’s probably for the best. When Serbia and Switzerland met at the 2018 World Cup, Xherdan Shaqiri celebrated the late winner by making an ‘eagle’ gesture with his hands. It sent the Serbians into a fit of rage, with the eagle referencing Albania, the country Shaqiri had to flee from to reach Switzerland when former Yugoslavia (present day Serbia and Montenegro) attacked Kosovo. 

Serbia still strongly rejects Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence, even though most UN states now recognise Kosovo as an independent nation. When the pair met in the 2022 World Cup, the hostility increased as Switzerland dumped Serbia out with a 3-2 win upon a backdrop of racist chanting and fascist slogans. They may be almost 1000km apart, but this has become one of the fiercest rivalries international football has to offer, and it resumes on Saturday night. Below you can find my Serbia vs Switzerland prediction. 

Team News

Aleksandar Mitrovic will captain his country once again, with Luka Jovic also in contention to play up front. There’s also been a call up handed to Millwall’s 19-year-old striker Mihailo Ivanovic, who joined the London club this summer for a fee of £2.5m. There’s a lot of excitement around the young forward, while there are five others waiting to make their international debuts.

Nikola Cumic, Dejan Zukic, Aleksandar Cirkovic, Andrija Maksimovic and goalkeeper Veljko Ilic will be desperate to earn their first caps against Switzerland - while Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic is establishing himself as a capable Premier League centre-back.

For Switzerland, Serbia’s main antagonist Shaqiri has now retired from international football, while captain Granit Xhaka was sent off against Denmark and has been left out of the squad for this international break. Perhaps the opponent was a factor in that decision, so Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji will wear the armband.

Yann Sommer also retired from international football after Euro 2024, and Switzerland are trying to nail down their new number one. Gregor Kobel looks to be in pole position having started against Spain, but Jonas Omlin and Yvon Mvogo also pushing to win more caps. 

Serbia vs Switzerland Odds

Serbia are priced at 13/8 to win this game, with Switzerland available at 15/8. A draw can be backed at 21/10, over 2.5 goals is 6/5 and BTTS is 5/6. Mitrovic is favourite to score first, priced at 9/2 to open the scoring. 

Under 1.5 goals @ 7/4

I can’t pick a winner out of these two and I think we are going to see a very tight game, relatively low on quality. Serbia have failed to score in both of their Nations League matches so far, losing 2-0 to Denmark before getting a creditable 0-0 with Spain. Despite the obvious threat of Mitrovic up front, they have struggled to create chances, and he isn’t playing in a top league anymore. 

Meanwhile, Switzerland also lost 2-0 to Denmark, but they were beaten 4-1 by Spain, coming up short on all fronts. I think they are the slight underdogs here, but I also think they will be able to put up more of a fight, and a solid defensive showing. With Akanji leading the defensive line, they may be able to escape with a point. Having said that, I think the under 1.5 goals selection allows for one goal either way, and is good value to boot.  

Over 57.5 booking points @ 11/10

As I mentioned in the introduction to this piece, these two despise each other. Even though Xhaka and Shaqiri will not be present, both sides will be keen to get stuck into one another - given what has gone beforehand. Serbia picked up seven yellows, and Switzerland four, in their last meeting in Qatar, and I can see a similar game unfolding here. 

With the history between these two sides, its hard to imagine a tame encounter in Serbia on Saturday. This one isn’t going to be pretty and the referee could be in for a difficult night so I've plumped for over 57.5 booking points, with 10 points for a yellow and 25 for a red. 

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