Serbia and Hungary will both be looking to build on victories in the European playoff semi-finals when the two sides lock horns in the Nations League on Sunday evening.
The hosts are winless in the 2020-21 edition after two matches, whereas Hungary lost to Russia and overcame Turkey in September's fixtures.
Match preview
© Reuters
Serbia needed extra time to record a 2-1 victory over Norway in their European Championship playoff semi-final, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic the hero of the hour after coming off the bench to bag a brace for his team on Thursday evening.
Ljubisa Tumbakovic's side must overcome one final hurdle in the form of Scotland before they can look forward to a first appearance at the European finals since 2000, but for now, Serbia must quickly shift their focus to their upcoming Nations League matches with Hungary and Turkey before next month's playoff final.
Having been promoted to League B from the 2018-19 campaign, Serbia have been handed a harsh welcome to life in the division above and will be searching for their first win at the third attempt on Sunday, with Tumbakovic's men losing to Russia and drawing with Turkey last month.
Should the Eagles fail to turn their fortunes around in October's fixtures, the Serbia faithful will no doubt begin to worry about an immediate return to League C, although their dramatic victory over Norway should give Tumbakovic's side plenty of encouragement before they face a Hungary side who have also been buoyed by their midweek performance.
As is the case with Serbia, Hungary can also look forward to a European qualifying playoff final after they eased past Bulgaria in the semi-finals of Path A.
Marco Rossi's men marched to a 3-1 victory on Thursday evening to set up a clash with Iceland in November's playoff final, with Hungary still on course to reach the European Championships for the second time in a row.
However, before Rossi's side can look forward to that showdown next month, they must first navigate a quick turnaround in fixtures as they look to increase the pressure on current leaders Russia in Group B3.
Hungary lost to the current table-toppers 3-2 back in September, but the Magyars also managed to grind out a hard-fought 1-0 win over Turkey, with the highly-rated Dominik Szoboszlai netting the winner in that fixture.
Sunday's showdown represents the first meeting between the two sides since Serbia became independent, with Hungary falling to a 5-0 defeat to FR Yugoslavia in the most recent clash back in 1997.
Serbia Nations League form: LD
Serbia form (all competitions): WWDLDW
Hungary Nations League form: WL
Hungary form (all competitions): WLLWLW
Team News
© Reuters
Serbia captain Aleksandar Kolarov was given his marching orders in their most recent Nations League clash with Turkey and is set to serve a one-match suspension for this one.
As a result, Milos Veljkovic could line up in a back three, while Milinkovic-Savic is sure to start following his match-winning cameo in the clash with Norway.
Adam Ljajic, Luka Milivojevic and Nemanja Radonjic are all options for change should Tumbakovic look to freshen things up with little time in between matches.
As for Hungary, Nemanja Nikolic will be holding out for a start up top following his goal against Bulgaria, but it is difficult to see Adam Szalai dropping down to the bench.
With only a couple of days to recover in between fixtures, Rossi may look to freshen things up with the inclusions of Daniel Gazdag and Szilveszter Hangya from the first whistle.
Serbia possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; S. Mitrovic, Veljkovic, Milenkovic; Lazovic, Maksimovic, Milivojevic, Radonjic; Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic; A. Mitrovic
Hungary possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Attila Szalai, Lang, Orban; Nego, Nagy, Gazdag, Hangya; Sallai, Nikolic; Adam Szalai
We say: Serbia 2-1 Hungary
Both sides ought to feel confident heading into this game following their playoff victories in midweek, and that should make for an entertaining affair, although changes aplenty are expected on both ends. Hungary are having to make do without their star man Szoboszlai, though, and we expect Serbia to get up and running in the 2020-21 Nations League with a narrow victory on Sunday.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Serbia win with a probability of 52.1%. A draw had a probability of 24.8% and a win for Hungary had a probability of 23.13%.
The most likely scoreline for a Serbia win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.63%) and 2-1 (9.56%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.77%), while for a Hungary win it was 0-1 (7.25%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood.
