We believe Brazil vs Serbia is going to be a real thriller with plenty of goal chances from both ends. We also believe the players will turn some of those chances into goals. But which players? Those playing for Brazil, Serbia, or both? To learn the answer, just keep on reading this World Cup preview!
Brazil vs Serbia Odds
Match-Winner
Brazil -200
Draw +320
Serbia +550
Goals Over/Under
Over 3.5 +200
Under 3.5 -250
*Odds taken from Sports Odds Direct on Tuesday, November 22.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
Place: Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar
Date: Thursday, November 24, 2022
Time: 2:00 PM ET
How to Watch: FOX/Telemundo
World Cup #1 Favorite Does Have Some Weaknesses
Brazil is the no.1 favorite to win the 2022 World Cup, which is no surprise as this team is undefeated since summer 2021. This team’s strongest weapon is its attack, which is packed with superstars – Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Anthony, Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, and others.
With these players on the roster, Brazil looks capable of scoring (and perhaps, outscoring) every single team on the planet. The problem is that other parts of Brazil’s national team aren’t as strong as its offensive unit.
For instance, coach Tite decided to bring only six proper midfielders with him to Qatar. Excluding Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes (and Man United’s Casemiro to some extent), those guys haven’t been playing at an elite level since the start of the 2022-23 season.
It’s a similar story when it comes to Brazil’s full-backs – Danilo, Alex Sandro, Dani Alves, and Alex Telles. They simply aren’t great. Brazil’s center-backs, on the other hand, are really good, although they do have their own weaknesses.
For instance, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos – the two center-backs who are expected to start against Serbia – are both shorter than 6 feet. The reason why this is important is that Serbia’s team has the highest average height in the 2022 World Cup – 6’1.
Serbia Expected to Attack on Thursday
One would think that the best way to play against Brazil is to “park the bus” in front of the goal. However, we think Serbia will do just the opposite. Dragan Stojkovic’s team is expected to play an attacking-minded 3-4-3 formation. Why do we think that? Because they did it in each of their previous 10 matches.
What’s interesting is that rather than putting some defense-conscious players in the midfield four, Stojkovic tends to put a couple of attacking midfielders there.
If he goes with the same strategy on Thursday, we expect to see Lazio playmaker Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the midfield, along with Juventus’ winger Filip Kostic, and PAOK’s right forward Andrija Zivkovic there. The only defensive midfielder who’ll probably start for Serbia is Sevilla’s Nemanja Gudelj.
Over in the offense, we expect to see Serbia’s captain Dusan Tadic (Ajax), together with Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Brazil vs Serbia Prediction
We think it’s gonna be raining goals at Lusail Iconic Stadium on Thursday. Brazil vs Serbia will likely see three or more goals, with each team putting at least one or two in the net. That said, we do think Brazil will score more than Serbia in the end.
