Serbia have some very talented players in their Euro 2024 squad (Photo: Getty)
Micah Richards has identified the two Serbia players who England should be most worried about in their Euro 2024 opening match.
This summer’s European championships get underway on Friday, with the Three Lions kicking-off their tournament against the Eagles on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen.
England have won their opening game at each of the major tournaments that Gareth Southgate has been in charge for, a run they’ll be expected to extend in Germany.
But while ranked 33rd in the world, Serbia still pose a threat thanks to their well-regarded attacking talent and they feature a few Premier League stars past and present, including Chelsea goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic and Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic.
Previewing the Euros on The Rest is Football podcast, former England defender Richards highlighted two Serbian stars who could be key to getting their country into the knockouts.
‘[Sergej] Milinkovic-Savic. He is the player!’ the Manchester City icon said.
‘He’s in Saudi now but he was at Lazio. He is a real ball player. A lot of the good stuff they do comes through him.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic will be at the heart of Serbia ‘s attack (Photo: Getty)
‘I’m interested to see what they can do. They’ve got good players on paper. As a team they’re very good but they’re not scintillating.
‘I’m gonna go England and Serbia [to finish 1-2 in Group C] because of set-pieces with [Aleksandar] Mitrovic and I just think he could be the difference.
‘I know he’s playing in Saudi, not as competitive as where he was playing in the Premier League, but he will score goals.’
Creative midfielder Milinkovic-Savic was linked with a move to Manchester United for years but last summer moved to Al-Hilal, finishing his first season in the Saudi Pro League with 12 goals and 17 assists in 44 games.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 40 goals for Saudi side Al Hilal this season (Photo: Getty)
Mitrovic is best known for his five-and-a-half years with Fulham in which time he scored 111 goals across spells in the Premier League and Championship.
The striker forced his way out of Craven Cottage last summer, also joining Al-Hilal where he has scored 40 and assisted eight in 43 appearances, and he is also Serbia’s all-time top scorer with 58 goals in 91 caps.
‘Another team that have to ping crosses in because of Mitrovic, that’s what he wants,’ former England striker Alan Shearer added.
‘He’s their talisman, their goalscorer. He’s got really good link-up play with [Dusan] Tadic so those two are going to have to perform if they want to get out of the group and give England problems.
‘I think they will but perhaps by scraping into second or third [place].’
England and Serbia are joined in Group C by Denmark and Slovenia.
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