Serbia host Norway in their opening Group B4 fixture in the UEFA Nations League with both teams looking to make a fast start. The Norwegians are often tricky opponents but Serbia have been near perfect lately and will be confident of coming out on top.
It is exciting times for Serbia in international football as they appear to be almost unstoppable at the moment. They breezed through the World Cup qualifiers, finishing top of a group that included Portugal and also defeated the former European champions away from home.
Serbia suffered a 3-0 friendly defeat to Denmark in their last international outing back in March but had gone unbeaten in their previous eight matches, claiming seven wins.
At home is where Serbia often do their best work as they have won their last three fixtures on their own turf. They have not scored less than three goals in each of the three matches, with their last fixture in front of their fans, a 4-0 victory over 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar back in November.
Norway have been on the sidelines of international football having not participated in a major tournament since Euro 2000. They have a highly talented group at the moment but seem unable to build any sort of consistency which ultimately led to their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Things appear to be looking up for Norway since the World Cup qualifiers ended as they travel to Serbia with two straight wins. Stale Solbakken’s men claimed a 2-0 victory over Slovakia before thrashing Armenia 9-0 in their last international outing back in March.
One problem that still persists for Norway is their poor record on their travels where they have failed to win their last two matches. Their last outing on the road was a World Cup qualifying fixture with Netherlands which ended 2-0 in favour of the Dutch.
How the bookies view it
Serbia have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 11/8 by SBK. A victory for Norway is valued at 11/5 by William Hill while a draw is set at odds of 23/10 by SBK.
Head to head
There have been just three previous matches between Serbia and Norway with both teams claiming one win each and one draw. The most recent meeting was a Euro 2020 qualifier which the Serbians won 2-1 after extra-time.
Players to watch
Aleksandar Mitrovic is coming off a record-breaking season with English Championship side Fulham and will be the one to watch for Serbia. The striker’s international record is just as impressive and with six goals in his last 10 appearances for the national team, he can be backed to get on the score sheet on Thursday at 6/5 with Paddy Power.
Erling Haaland is often considered Norway’s biggest goal threat. The striker has nine goals in his last seven international appearances and is priced at 13/10 by Paddy Power to find the net on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Serbia and Norway have plenty of quality in attack and with both teams on target in their last meeting, a repeat could be on the cards at 28/29 with SBK. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 5/4 with Unibet while over 3.5 goals is valued at 17/5 by BetVictor.
Serbia have scored in both halves in their last three home matches and a similar outcome is priced at 3/1 with bet365. The Serbians can also be tipped to score the first goal on Thursday at 10/11 with BoyleSports.
This UEFA Nations League match between Serbia and Norway will be played on Jun 2, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Serbia vs Norway prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.