Serbia v Scotland: More travel woes for set-piece reliant visitors
Published:On a poor run themselves, Serbia will see the visit of Scotland as the perfect opportunity for them to improve their Group A fortunes.
The hosts are 4/7 to triumph, and even on the back of three consecutive competitive defeats, they should be confided in to do so.
Serbia have won two of their last three including friendly matches, as have their 5/1 opposition, but the visitors’ problems in front of goal may well resurface here.
Indeed, the travelling side threatened almost solely from set-pieces in their last outing with Wales, and their solitary goal in that match came via this method.
At 10/11, Serbia look an appealing price to keep a clean sheet against Scotland for the second time in their attempts to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Alternatively, they can be backed to win without conceding at 7/5, which should also tempt punters given that Gordon Strachan’s men have won only once on the road in well over a year.
However, it should also be noted that Serbia’s sole Group A victory came in a match where they also conceded, as they bested Wales 6-1 at Stadion Karadorde.
Scotland have most regularly registered in defeat recently also, so the 16/5 odds regarding a home win in which both teams find the net look too big.
2-1 has been the most regularly recurring scoreline to feature in recent Scotland games meanwhile, emanating from three of their last five matches.
They were on the wrong end of that scoreline twice in those games, and against a side beaten only once competitively at home in over two years, could be again at 8/1.
Of Serbian first scorer options, a player likely to be popular among Premier League fans is Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.
Although he is sure to operate from a defensive position, the Blues star is a massive threat from set-plays, as proven by his seven international strikes, and he is certainly worthy of each-way first scorer consideration at 16/1.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
