Denmarkvs.Serbia

Both sides will be pleased with their work on matchday one in what now looks a much more competitive group than before it began.

Match preview

With Spain and Switzerland also in the section, both Denmark and Serbia knew they likely needed to claim points on the opening matchday, and they duly delivered.

Hosts Denmark are under new management after the departure of Kasper Hjulmand following their last-16 exit to Germany at Euro 2024.

The Danes were winless at the finals, drawing all three group matches - including a 0-0 against upcoming opponents Serbia - before being unfortunate to go out to the hosts after a five-minute spell saw them have a goal disallowed and concede a harsh penalty.

Hjulmand's long-term successor has yet to be decided, with Lars Knudsen currently in caretaker charge for this set of Nations League fixtures in a similar scenario to Lee Carsley with England.

The former Leicester City coach has come in for plenty of praise after a fine first game in charge, as the Red and Whites beat Euro quarter-finalists Switzerland 2-0 on Thursday night.

It was the perfect start to their third straight appearance in League A, as a repeat of their top-two finishes in the previous two iterations will now see them progress to the quarter-finals in a new, expanded format.

Serbia's 0-0 draw with Spain on the opening night also benefits the Danes, who know they can remain at least two points clear at the top with another win here.

Despite a poor showing at the Euros in the summer, Serbia have stuck with manager Dragan Stojkovic, and he led a much-changed side to a fine draw with the reigning European and Nations League champions on Thursday.

While that was a pleasing result, Serbia must still improve across the board, as they have won just two of their last 10 matches, having gone out in the groups of Euro 2024 with just two points.

Those performances in Germany were a continuation of their shaky form in qualifying, as Serbia only narrowly progressed in second place at the expense of neighbours Montenegro.

The Nations League brought out the best of them earlier in Stojkovic's reign though, winning promotion to League A for the first time in 2022.

A defeat on matchday one in Norway kicked Serbia into gear, going on to pick up 13 points from the remaining 15 available to advance to the top tier at the Nordic side's expense.

Across all editions of the Nations League, Serbia have shown fine form, losing just three of their 19 matches in the competition, but this will be a whole new test as they are favourites to be relegated back to League B, despite that promising start.

Denmark Nations League form:

W

Denmark form (all competitions):

W

D

D

D

L

W

Serbia Nations League form:

D

Serbia form (all competitions):

L

W

L

D

D

D

Team News

Denmark lost the hugely influential duo of Simon Kjaer and Thomas Delaney following Euro 2024 as they both announced their international retirement.

Those retirements and injuries across the squad saw a place open up for young wing-back Patrick Dorgu, and just one minute into his debut off the bench against Switzerland, he made a dream introduction to international football by opening the scoring.

Joakim Maehle and Rasmus Hojlund are also absent with injury, so Albert Gronbaek was given his Denmark debut in attack against the Swiss, but he will compete with Dorgu and Gustav Isaksen for a start in this one.

After Matt O'Riley pulled out with injury, Maurits Kjaergaard was called up to replace him, only to come down with an issue himself just days later, meaning Brentford's Mathias Jensen was brought in.

Serbia's squad is almost unrecognisable from the one that was selected for Euro 2024, with Dusan Tadic now retired, and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Filip Kostic all not present.

Mijat Gacinovic has been left out by Stojkovic, while Milos Veljkovic and Nemanja Maksimovic are also both out injured and among the 11 players dropping out from Euros squad.

Andrija Zivkovic and Sasa Lukic both earned a 50th cap against Spain, while there were debuts in the new-look side for Jan-Carlo Simic, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Kristijan Belic.

Denmark possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Andersen, Vestergaard, Nelsson; Bah, Hojbjerg, Hjulmand, Kristiansen; Isaksen, Dolberg, Eriksen

Serbia possible starting lineup:

Rajkovic; Simic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Nedeljkovic, I Ilic, Lukic, Birmancevic; Samardzic, Jovic, Zivkovic

We say: Denmark 1-0 Serbia

Denmark have won 11 of their last 12 home matches, drawing the other against Switzerland in March, so they will be hugely confident of extending that run after a win over the same opponents on Thursday.

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