Brazil and Serbia face off on Thursday to kick off their World Cup in a Group G showdown at Lusail Stadium.
Serbia has never made it past the group stage of the World Cup, but they have high expectations that this can be the year they finally make it into the knockout stage. In the last game against Bahrain, Serbia scored five goals and won by four goals. Dušan Tadić scored in the 8th and 50th minutes. Aleksandar Mitrovic is dealing with an ankle injury and isn’t expected to start in the game. There is a chance he could come off the bench, but that still isn’t a given. Luka Jovic is going to start in this game, and without Mitrovic starting, they are going to need him to be strong here.
On the other side of this matchup is Brazil, who feels they can win another World Cup this season. It’s been 20 years since they have won the World Cup, and there is a lot of pressure on this team to win it here. In the last game on September 27th against Tunisia, they secured a 5-1 victory. Raphinha had a big game and scored goals in the 11th and 40th minute. Antony, Bruno Guimaraes, and Alex Telles were all banged up heading into this game, but it looks like they are fully healthy and ready to go here. Neymar will of course start, and they are going to need him to have a big game here.
Serbia is going to struggle to get good scoring chances here, especially with Mitrovic not starting this game. Serbia’s defense isn’t great, and Brazil is going to have no issue running up the score in this game. Look for Brazil to score at least three goals here, and this will be a comfortable victory. Back Brazil -1.5 to cash.