Preview: Denmark vs. Serbia – prediction, team news, lineups – Sports Mole
The Allianz Arena in Munich plays host to a critical Euro 2024 Group C encounter on Tuesday evening, as Denmark and Serbia fight for the right to qualify for the last 16.
Kasper Hjulmand‘s men currently occupy second place in the section on account of drawing both of their opening matches, while Dragan Stojkovic‘s men are out of contention for top spot but are not dead and buried just yet.
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After painfully dropping two points in their opening Euro 2024 battle with the Slovenians, Denmark reversed their roles for matchday two against a lacklustre England, who once again sat back after taking the lead and were made to pay for it on the appalling Frankfurt turf.
Harry Kane‘s 18th-minute strike would ostensibly set the Three Lions on their way to an early first-placed finish, but Morten Hjulmand had other ideas, firing in one of the goals of the tournament so far – a 25-yard scorcher – to steal a thoroughly deserved point for the Danes.
As England cut beleaguered figures at the Deutsche Bank Park, Kasper Hjulmand’s men were vivacious and could very well have emerged triumphant on another day, although they were often restricted to more shots from range and failed to replicate Hjulmand’s thunderbolt with their subsequent efforts.
Nevertheless, their two-point haul is currently good enough for second place in the section – two behind England, level with Slovenia and one ahead of Serbia – meaning that their fate is fully in their own hands, and they will guarantee last-16 progression with victory.
Alternatively, the Red and Whites could be eliminated altogether if they lose and Slovenia stun England, but a six-match unbeaten run stands the Euro 2020 semi-finalists in good stead, as does the fact that they have scored in each of their last seven matches at the European Championships.
With neither Aleksandar Mitrovic nor his strike partner Dusan Vlahovic cutting the mustard at Euro 2024 so far, Real Madrid flop Luka Jovic took matters into his own hands – or head – to dramatically keep Serbia kicking in Germany during their matchday two affair with Slovenia.
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A 69th-minute tap-in from Zan Karnicnik had Matjaz Kek‘s men within touching distance of notching Slovenia’s first-ever Euros victory as an independent nation, but in the fifth minute of second-half injury time, Jovic leapt highest to meet an Ivan Ilic corner and sensationally snatch a draw.
Jovic’s crushing intervention prolonged a miserable major-tournament sequence for Serbia, who have now gone seven contests at the Euros and the World Cup since their last win – besting Costa Rica at the latter tournament in 2018 – and not since the days of Yugoslavia have they endured a worse such run.
Avoiding defeat did not make a difference to Serbia’s first-placed prospects – they cannot overtake England no matter what transpires on Tuesday – but Stojkovic’s fourth-placed outfit are still in with the slimmest of chances of pipping the Danes and the Slovenians to the second automatic qualification spot.
In order to rise up two positions, the Eagles must triumph and hope that Slovenia fail to beat England, and a draw would see Slovenia finish third – and potentially earn a golden ticket to the last 16 – if the Three Lions beat Kek’s side by at least two goals.
Amid such complicated permutations, Serbia – now boasting just four wins from 13 during their prolonged spell of inconsistency – can only focus on their task at hand versus Denmark, but they have been defeated in all three of their previous head-to-heads by an aggregate score of 8-1.
That streak includes a 3-1 loss and 2-0 reverse during qualifying for Euro 2016, before a comprehensive 3-0 friendly beatdown in March 2022, where Joakim Maehle, the absent Jesper Lindstrom and Christian Eriksen stuck for the Scandinavians.
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No Danish players reported any physical issues in the wake of the England draw, leaving the infirmary empty barring midfielder Thomas Delaney, who was missing from the squad against the Three Lions due to illness but is back in training.
Now playing his club football for Belgian giants Anderlecht, Delaney confirmed that his sickness bug was stomach-based although was arguably guilty of TMI, admitting that he spent “a lot of time in the bathroom”, but he is relieved to be back in action.
Delaney is expected to be given the green light to make the squad on Tuesday but has no chance of displacing Hjulmand or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – who was equally impressive on matchday two – but the former is at risk of suspension alongside Joakim Maehle, Christian Norgaard and Jannik Vestergaard.
All four will miss any potential last-16 clash if they pick up yellow cards in Munich, where Christian Eriksen could set a new outright record of 133 appearances for the men’s team, at least until 132-cap defender Simon Kjaer is recalled to Hjulmand’s lineup.
Serbia’s medical bay also holds just one player in the shape of Filip Kostic, whose tournament appeared to be over due to the serious knee injury that he sustained in the defeat to England on June 16, but the Juventus winger is still present at his team’s training camp.
Stojkovic has a fully-fit squad at his disposal otherwise and talked up Jovic’s qualities after his crucial leveller against Slovenia – claiming that he ‘always trusts’ the 26-year-old – albeit probably not enough to promote him to the starting lineup.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was surprisingly axed from the XI for matchday two, but as the Mitrovic-Vlahovic experiment has not worked thus far, Stojkovic may now bite the bullet and consider dropping one of them for the Al-Hilal lynchpin.
The 59-year-old has affirmed that changes are indeed coming, one of which will reportedly see Udinese midfielder Lazar Samardzic come back into the XI.
Denmark possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Andersen, Christensen, Vestergaard; Bah, Hojbjerg, Hjulmand, Maehle; Eriksen; Hojlund, Wind
Serbia possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Pavlovic, Milenkovic; Zivkovic, Gudelj, Lukic, Mladenovic; Tadic, Samardzic; Mitrovic
All four Group C matches so far have been extremely close-run affairs, and this battle ought to be no different given what is at stake, but Serbia’s talented attackers just have not clicked in the final third so far.
Such shortcomings should prove fatal against a fired-up Denmark team who gave England a terrific run for their money, as Hjulmand’s side prolong their Euro 2024 adventure and sent Stojkovic’s men packing at the first hurdle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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