Brazil VS Serbia

Serbia try to challenge Brazil in this Group G match at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail. In my opinion, there is no doubt at all that Brazil are clearly the most probable team to lift the trophy next month.! Their odds to win the tournament have been coming down in the past couple of days and are currently around 4.00 on the betting market. In my opinion Brazil are even stronger than the bookies, most football fans and journalists believe! Their offense and midfield are full of amazingly good – world-class players! The only question mark is defense which clearly their area of the game were they do not have an edge over the other top-teams. Serbia can surely score here but Fulham's in-form star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is expected to start on the bench but it is also possible that he will not play at all because of the ankle injury he has suffered from lately.. Dusan Vlahovic has also suffered from an injury this autumn but played 45 minutes in a friendly against a weak, Bahrain, in a friendly game six days ago. Serbia won this clash 5-1. Vlahovic did score a goal and gave two assists but was, understandably, still not at his best yet.. He scored a massive number of goals for Fiorentina before Juventus bought him in Janury. Even so, I think he is a bit over-rated.. With fully fit and in-form Vlahovic and Mitrovic Serbia could be a possible ” super underdog” and this tournament as they also have Sergej Milinkovic-Savic However, Switzerland did beat a pretty weak Cameron earlier today which means that a draw is not an ideal result for either team! This slightly increases both teams' chances to win as well goal expectancy and of course lowers the probability of a draw.. Serbia's defense is not bad but their defenders are far from word-class will face a challenge to big here, I presume. Both teams have done very well lately but still Brazil have convinced me a lot more! Serbia did, for example, lose to Norway 0-1 at home in June. Norway are not a top team and it easy hard to see Brazil losing to the Norwegians..The last time Brazil lost a match was in July 2021 (!) in the Cope America final but were, in reality, the better team with about 60% ball possession and much more scoring attempts, total passes, attacks and dangerous attacks.. Yes, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia 1-2 a few days ago but let's not forget that they are still one of the favorites in this tournament. Brazil have now won seven games in row – six of these matches with four goals' difference! Amazing performances to say the least!

In some tournaments Brazil have unfortunately not reached their full potential – probably because of some internal and tactical issues. This time it seems to be different and according to all reports and watching their recent matches and training session it seems this time the team spirit is awesome. Especially PSG's Neymar has looked more relaxed than in many other big tournaments. He knows the the team does not rely on him alone but is, on the other hand, respected by everyone. Brazil's coach Tite is expected to have a fully-fit squad available for Thursday's contest, with Antony, Bruno Guimaraes and Alex Telles all recovering from minor problems.If reports are to be believed, the "Selecao" could use either a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-2-3-1 formation, with experienced captain Silva starting in the back four alongside Danilo, Marquinhos and Alex Sandro. ManU's experieced but still quite solid Casemiro and Lucas Paqueta are the two most likely candidates to line up in center-midfield, while super star Neymar could play in the important number 10 role. Tottenham's super-creative Richarlison, who has recovered from a calf strain in time for the World Cup, is set to be given a chance to start the games ahead of Arsenal's stunningly good Gabriel Jesus to lead the line.Brazil have won both of their previous two meetings against Serbia without conceding a goal and are 76-77% % favorites to start the campaign with all three points!

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Danilo, T. Silva, Marquinhos, Sandro; Casemiro, Paqueta; Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius Jr; Richarlison

Serbia possible starting lineup:

V. Milinkovic-Savic, Milenkovic, S. Mitrovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Gudej, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Jovic