Scotland

Manager Craig Levein is under immense pressure to guide the Scots to Brazil in 2014 and getting off to a good start is a must. Against an under-strength Serbia three points look entirely possible and home advantage could make the difference for an improving Scotland.

Scotland v Serbia 3pm

Group A is likely to be one of the most competitive groups on the road to Brazil, with Belgium, Croatia, Scotland, Serbia and Wales all having realistic dreams of making it to South America. Scotland are 18/1 to win the group, while Serbia are second-favourites at 9/4 to finish in top spot.

The price for the Serbs is surprisingly short considering they finished behind Estonia when missing out on qualification for Euro 2012 as they crawled over the line. Sinica Mihajlovic’s men have won just one of the last ten matches and were far from impressive during their goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland in their last friendly outing.

The Serbs bring a predominantly inexperienced squad to Scotland this weekend, with captain Branislav Ivanovic the most experienced of the group with 52 caps to his name. Defensively, Mihajlovic’s team look strong, with Ivanovic, Neven Subotic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Manchester City new boy Matija Nastasic providing a formidable barrier for the Scots to get over.

Up front, however, the Serbs do not look a massive threat and given the Scots historically goal-shy nature under 2.5 goals at 4/7 could be a safe bet. The Serbs are likely to try and frustrate Scotland, and it will be up to Levein’s boys to take the game to the Eastern Europeans.

In the build-up to the game, Levein has stated that he feels Scotland are in a much better position to qualify for a major tournament than they have been for several years. The former Dundee United boss will now have to back up his words, starting on Saturday.

Whereas Scotland have historically lacked creativity, they now look to have a squad capable of creating the chances the likes of Jordan Rhodes, Steven Naismith and Ross McCormack should thrive on. Robert Snodgrass, James Morrisson and Charlie Adam will look to unlock the Serbia defence, while the pace of Matt Philips and James Forrest will give this weekend’s opposition plenty to think about.

Levein does appear to have plenty of options within his squad now and while, like Serbia, a lot of his players lack international experience, they look to have the talent to make the step up.

Scotland are 8/5 to win, with the draw 9/4 and the Serbs 15/8. The odds suggest it will be a close on to call but with the Hampden roar behind them, the Scots should come through this one with three points to show for their efforts.

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