Serbia U21 vs England U21 Prediction: Young Lions can enjoy another victory

The reigning U21 European champions are back in action as England’s Young Lions travel to Serbia to continue their qualification campaign for Euro 2025.

After defeat to Ukraine, Lee Carsley’s men now sit second in the group on six points, level with Serbia - so this could be a crucial qualifier. Below we have previewed the match and given a couple of betting tips.

Team News

England will be without both Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis as they were both called up by Gareth Southgate to the senior team. Jay Stansfield, on loan at Birmingham City from Fulham has been called into the squad to replace Palmer, and he will hope for some gametime after an impressive start to the season. 

Fellow Championship stars Liam Delap and Jonny Rowe are also included, while Josh Wilson-Esbrand is in the side and could feature after making the move on loan to Reims. 

Match Odds

England are 1/3 to win this match, while Serbia are the 6/1 underdogs. A draw can be backed at 18/5, BTTS is 4/5 and over 2.5 goals is 4/7. 

England to win with -1 handicap @ EVS

England enjoyed one of the biggest wins in their history when these two last met in October, as the Young Lions ran out 9-1 winners. Noni Madueke, Jaden Philogene and Harvey Elliott all scored braces in one of the most devastating attacking performances we have ever seen.

England should be able to win this game fairly comfortably however we are unlikely to see such an outlandish scoreline repeat itself. Added to this, Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer both started that game and are absent for this one, while Serbia will be tougher to beat on home soil.

Carsley will hope his team can put in a similar display but it is going to be tighter this time around. Still, the EVS on offer for England to win by more than one goal is well worth taking advantage of.

England and over 3.5 goals @ 2/1

Serbia have scored in each of their qualifiers so far and have some attacking quality in their ranks. We can expect them to trouble England’s defence here, but we can also expect England to blow them away with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Rowe and Madueke.

This should be an open encounter and it is a game that England need to win. As a result, I believe we can extend the odds on an away win by including over 3.5 goals. Given there were ten the last time these two met, that doesn’t feel like a big ask.

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.