Serbia v Australia, Wednesday 23rd June, 7.30pm
There was plenty of money for Serbia to win the World Cup at the start of the tournament and many people fancied them to get the better of Germany in Group D. Although Radomir Antic’s team lost their opening match against Ghana, they did bounce back against the Germans at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and are now 8/15 (Stan James) to go through to the knockout stages and face one of USA, Slovenia or England.
You can currently get 10/11 (bet365) that the White Eagles win Wednesday’s match at the Mbombela Stadium, a price that has been shortening with the passing of every day. Against the Germans, the team were unrecognisable from the players that laboured so badly against Ghana and you can back them at 21/10 (Paddy Power) to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and lead at half-time and full-time. They had many stand-out performers on Friday and the Liverpool-bound Milan Jovanovic is 8/1 (Sky Bet) to open the scoring as he did in Port Elizabeth.
The giant striker Nikola Zigic will be plying his trade for Birmingham City next season and his height and physical presence could cause problems for Lucas Neill in central defence. He’s 6/1 (Ladbrokes) to open the scoring, while talented winger Milos Krasic is 14/1 (bet365) on the same market and could be worth a nibble.
Australia will have Craig Moore suspended for their final group match and it’s a tall order to see the Socceroos gaining a victory which would give them the slimmest of chances of making it through to the last sixteen. Sky Bet go 7/2 that we see them land all three points, although Pim Verbeek will also be without the services of Harry Kewell, who was cruelly red-carded for giving away a penalty against Ghana.
Nevertheless, we should expect a rugged team spirit and you can get 11/4 (Coral) that the game ends in a draw and the Serbs are left wondering whether a point will be enough to go through. One thing that Antic’s team need to avoid is conceding silly penalties and the 13/10 (Sporting Bet) about them keeping a clean sheet seems like a fair price.