Serbia v England: 5/2 draw appeals in tough test for Tuchel | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

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England are failing to create a spark and could find it tough going against Serbia in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier...

Serbia v EnglandTuesday 09 September, 19:45Live on ITVX, STV & ITV 1

Is the shirt getting heavy again?

After scoring a paltry three goals across two games against Andorra - a 1-0 away win and a 2-0 success at Villa Park on Saturday - is it just the case that England find this particular set of obstinate minnows difficult to play against?

Or when taking Thomas Tuchel's five matches in charge as a whole - this also includes 2-0 and 3-0 home wins over Albania and Latvia respectively and a 3-1 loss to Senegal - could it be that it's back to the days of old and the England shirt weighs heavily again.

The great strength of Gareth Southgate - perhaps until the last Euros when they became a dire watch - was making it fun to be involved with England. There hasn't been a lot of joy yet under Tuchel, although perhaps we're just witnessing a side slightly going through the motions in qualifiers given how easy it is for the top nations to make the finals of the expanded World Cup.

The Senegal defeat came in a friendly of course and in terms of qualifying, England now have 12 points out of 12 in Group K after an easy schedule. They're doing enough and maybe that's okay, even though many fans expected England to be knocking five and six past the teams they've played so far.

Serbia offer genuine test

So what of Serbia? They have seven points from nine and, by some way, are England's toughest opponents in Group K. The latest three came via a 1-0 away win against Latvia on Saturday, the goal scored by Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic.

The Eagles certainly deserve respect as they're a team we see pretty regularly in big tournaments - three of the last four World Cup and last summer's Euros.

And when scrutinising Serbia's record, the test looks a genuine one for England. Serbia have been defeated in just one of their last 24 World Cup qualifiers, winning 16 of those, and at home they've won 19 of the last 28 since 2001, the only defeat a 3-0 reverse to Belgium 13 years ago.

Rarely have they faced teams of England's calibre but that's still a record to be proud of.

England odds-on to take victory

England have only played Serbia once since The Eagles became an independent nation and many will recall that it was just over a year ago at Euro 2024.

It was close, England eventually winning their tournament opener thanks to an early header from Jude Bellingham.

The odds for this one show England at 3/4, with Serbia 15/4 and The Draw 5/2.

Draw makes appeal

Serbia's excellent home record, the tightness of last summer's meeting, the rather lacklustre performances under Tuchel to this point and the absence of Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer all suggest this will be a serious test for England.

And it's The Draw that stands out. One memory of that game in Euro 2024 was the lack of impact made by Harry Kane. Remarkably, he had just two touches in the first-half and for the whole match he was given a rough ride by a physical Serbian defence which included Nottingham Forest's giant centre-back Nikola Milenkovic.

I normally like Kane to score in any England game but the 6/5 here doesn't really appeal. If playing a scorer, I'd be more inclined to look further down, perhaps even backing another goal from 5/1 Declan Rice, who got England's second against Andorra on Saturday.

Unders looks best bet

While England won't have Andorra's permanent low block to contend with, scoring won't be easy against a Serbian side who don't give up goals easily but don't net many themselves.

Rewind to last year's Nations League and Serbia played out 0-0 home draws with both Spain and Denmark. And in seven matches between them in Group K, England and Serbia have yet to concede a single goal.

So the best bet of the night in this one is Under 2.5 Goals at 3/4. It's the clear favourite but for very good reason.

England are missing several likely goalscorers but they haven't conceded in any of their last six competitive fixtures. It could even be worth looking at Under 1.5 at 9/4.

Recommended bets

1pt - Serbia v England Draw @ 5/22pts - Under 2.5 Goals @ 3/4

Staked: 3pts

Returned: 0pts

P/L: -3pts