Serbia will take on Moldova and Austria this week in two crucial 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. Serbia will be looking to rebound after a disappointing 2-2 home draw vs Ireland that would have been a victory if not for the ridiculous chances Serbia missed, Here are a couple of things that we learned from last month's Ireland match.
Predrag Rajkovic needs more time
Rajkovic made his first competitive start in goal for Serbia and he looked like he wasn't yet ready to take the job from longtime starting keeper Vladimir Stojkovic. The youngster was not at fault for either of the goals and made a few good saves but he looked unsecure in goal and his needless over dribbling and mistimed clearances made for a nervous evening. Rajkovic is clearly very talented and will one day be Serbia's #1 but he needs more time to mature and gain experience.
Defend the damn set pieces
This has been a problem for a while now, the positioning on set pieces is not good and Serbia continuously get's punished for it. Both of Ireland's goals came after a set piece, the first was due to a failed clearance by Aleksandar Mitrovic and the second from a free header. Our players need to show more discipline and concentration in these situations. Muslin has to find a way to fix this issue or teams will continue to expose the weakness.
The misses, oh god the misses
Have you lost all of your hair yet? Its the same story every match with Serbia's finishing so this is nothing new but some of the misses vs Ireland were truly mind numbing. Mitrovic alone in front of the keeper, Pavlovic off the bar, Ivanovic's miss from 5 yards out. It hurts to remember them. The finishing has to improve or good sides will continue to punish us for our misses.
Need much more from central midfield
Nemanja Matic's suspension has left a big hole in Serbia's central midfield and Slavoljub Muslin has decided to fill it with Luka Milivojevic and Nemanja Gudelj. The duo was very underwhelming vs Ireland, both were pretty invisible and their distribution was poor. To make things worse Milivojevic committed a dumb foul that led to Ireland's first goal while Gudelj lost his man on Ireland's second goal. We will see if Muslin sticks with them or changes it up for Moldova on Thursday.
Mitro where art thou?
Aleksandar Mitrovic was simply awful vs Ireland. It was one of his worst performances for the national team and Serbia's attack looked a lot better once he was subbed off. This was his first match in two months so that probably contributed to his performance but this isn't just about one match. Mitrovic has to play better and put away his chances (like the sitter he missed at the end of the first half) if Serbia want's to qualify for the World Cup. We need Mitro to be on fire.
Tadic and Kostic = nightmares for defenders
Dusan Tadic and Filip Kostic were a terror for the Irish defenders all night long. The two wingers were fantastic and made everything happen for Serbia's attack, Tadic scored and assisted a goal while Kostic scored a goal and fixed a penalty. The continued good form of these two dynamic players will be huge for Serbia's World Cup hopes.
On to Moldova and Austria
The match in Moldova this Thursday is a must win for Serbia. Moldova is the weakest side in the group and getting six points from them is imperative. Anything less is unacceptable. Moldova will sit back and try to defend like they did vs Wales last month. Serbia will create plenty of chances against them and the key will be our ability to put those chances away. Serbia has struggled against "minnows' before and losses to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Macedonia in previous qualifying campaigns illustrate that point. Our players have to go into this match fully focused and with the right mindset. The familiar "this one will be easy" attitude has to change because we haven't earned the right to be cocky.
Austria visits Belgrade on Sunday in what will be a extremely tough match for Serbia. The Austrians are a very talented side and probably the favourites to win this group. Serbia is the underdog in this encounter and it will take a very good performance to beat the experienced and well organized Austrians. Serbia's defenders will have to put in a disciplined and composed performance because a side like Austria will punish us for any lapses in concentration. This match will set the tone for the qualifiers in my opinion, a result here for either team will send a message to the rest of the group and put the winner in a good position to finish in the top two.
Expected lineup:
Stojkovic
Ivanovic-Nastasic-Vukovic
Rukavina-Fejsa-Milivojevic-Kolarov
Tadic-Kostic
Mitrovic
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