Serbia v Switzerland Betting Tips: Latest odds, team news, preview and predictions

Serbia have the chance to secure their place in the World Cup knockout stages when they take on Switzerland in Kaliningrad on Friday.

Mladen Krstajic's men are top of Group E after beating Costa Rica in their opener, with their opponents' draw against Brazil in the other match meaning victory would seal qualification with a game to spare.

Latest Odds

With a daunting match against the South American giants to come in their last group game, they are priced at 8/5 (2.60) with William Hill to clinch a vital win here.

However, the Nati have lost just once in 23 fixtures, and are available at 19/10 (2.90) to put themselves well en route to the last 16 by coming out on top, or 15/8 (2.88) to play out a second consecutive draw.

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Team News

The Eagles are likely to line up with the same team that overcame Costa Rica, although Filip Kostic will be hoping for a start after an impressive performance from the bench.

Vladimir Petkovic is also unlikely to make any changes after his team's impressive opening performance, but Valon Behrami did sustain a slight knock against Brazil.

Edgy opening 45

Considering they kept a clean sheet in seven of their final nine qualification matches, perhaps it should not have come as too much of a surprise to see Switzerland frustrate Brazil so effectively.

After putting in all that effort, they will be determined not to let anything slip in a potentially crucial match against their European rivals.

Having conceded before the break in just three of their last 18 fixtures, a solid Swiss side will certainly feel confident of keeping things tight until at least half-time.

As well, the fact they have only scored in the opening 45 minutes in two of their last eight matches themselves suggests a tight first period.

Predictions

With seven of Serbia's last 10 games having produced the majority of goals after the break, odds of 19/20 (1.95) offer solid value on the second half proving the highest-scoring.

Highest-scoring half: Second at 19/20 (1.95) for a 2.5pt stake with William Hill