Serbia v Switzerland: High stakes and high tension

Serbia v Switzerland betting odds, tips and predictions and odds

Switzerland hold the upper hand in their crucial clash with Serbia which looks set to decide which team finishes runners-up to Brazil in Group G.

The Swiss are second with three points on the board and just need a draw unless Cameroon claim a shock victory against the World Cup favourites in the other match.

Friday’s match at Stadium 974 kicks off at 7pm and is live on ITV.

Slow start on the cards

Switzerland have been involved in two cagey contests so far and there has yet to be a first-half goal in either of their World Cup fixtures.

Breel Embolo grabbed a 48th-minute winner against Cameroon and the Swiss looked on course to hold out for a goalless draw against Brazil but were undone by Casemiro’s fine strike in the 83rd minute.

Their defensive resilience bodes well for their chances of getting the result they need here and a draw at 11/5 is the first of our Serbia v Switzerland betting tips, while we also like 31/20 for a goalless first half.

Serbia slip up

Serbia will be kicking themselves for dropping two points against Cameroon which has left them knowing it is win or bust in their final game.

Serbia struck twice in added time before the interval through Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to turn the game on its head after Jean-Charles Castelletto had given Cameroon the lead .

Serbia went 3-1 up when Aleksandar Mitrovic scored his first goal of the tournament early in the second period and looked to be cruising.

But the Africans responded in spectacular fashion as substitute Vincent Aboubakar and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting both scored in the space of three minutes to haul their side level.

Head coach Dragan Stojkovic said: “Of course, players should not lose their heads. We are frustrated as we wanted the win and had the match in our hands, but our silly mistakes allowed Cameroon to avoid defeat.

“We made two huge mistakes in the defence. At this level it is very dangerous to go high up when your opponent has the ball. These two mistakes cost us victory. It is difficult to understand and completely unnecessary.”

That performance may persuade Serbia to adopt a cautious approach in the early stages and in Coral’s #YourCall markets, we like 11/8 for Switzerland to win or draw, Serbia not to score in the first half and under 3.5 total goals.

Rivals meet again

Serbia and Switzerland are meeting for the second successive World Cup and their clash four years ago in Russia makes this a tasty contest.

Switzerland’s goals in a 2-1 win were scored by ethnic Albanians Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri and their ‘double eagle’ celebrations did not go down well in Serbia.

The gesture represents the eagle on Albania’s flag and increased political tension in the region while both players were jeered by Serbia fans throughout the game.

Xhaka and Shaqiri are likely to start once again and are 5/1 and 3/1 respectively to score at any time in the Serbia v Switzerland odds, while Xhaka can be backed at 11/5 to have at least one shot on target.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication