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First place will be up for grabs in Group A of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Portugal play host to Serbia at the Estádio da Luz on Sunday.
Both sides are currently level on 17 points at the summit of the group and will be looking to get one over the other and boost their qualification chances.
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Portugal’s blistering run of results took a slight halt last time out as they were held to a bore draw by the Republic of Ireland.
Prior to that, Fernando Santos’ side were on a run of five wins on the trot, after the 1-0 defeat against Belgium back in June.
However, Portugal head into the game on a three-game winning streak on home turf and will be looking to keep the ball rolling and move closer to a World Cup ticket.
Meanwhile, Serbia picked up their third consecutive win as they comfortably saw off Qatar 4-0 in a friendly fixture last time out.
Dragan Stojković’s men are now unbeaten in each of their most recent six games across all competitions, picking up five wins and one draw.
Serbia will now look to get one over the hosts after both sides settled for a 2-2 draw in March’s reverse fixture.
Portugal vs Serbia Head-To-Head
Portugal have been utterly dominant in the history of this fixture and are unbeaten in each of the last seven meetings against Serbia. The Portuguese have claimed three wins in that time, while four games have ended all square.
Portugal Form Guide: D-W-W-W-W
Serbia Form Guide: W-W-W-D-W
Portugal vs Serbia Team News
Portugal
Portugal will be without the trio of Anthony Lopes, Rafa Silva and Joao Mario, who have been sidelined through injuries. Bernardo Silva is expected to play this game after missing Portugal's last game.
Injured: Anthony Lopes, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario
Suspended: None
Serbia
Matija Nastasic, Marko Petkovic, Filip Djuricic and Darko Lazovic have withdrawn from the squad due to their respective injuries. However, there are no fresh injury concerns for the Serbs.
Injured: Matija Nastasic, Marko Petkovic, Filip Djuricic, Darko Lazovic
Suspended: None
Portugal vs Serbia Predicted XI
Portugal Predicted XI (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes; Joao Moutinho, Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes; Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota
Serbia Predicted XI (3-4-3): Predrag Rajkovic; Stefan Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic; Filip Kostic, Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Nemanja Radonjic; Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic
Portugal vs Serbia Prediction
With first place on the line in this one, we expect a thrilling contest between the sides, who should take the game to each other in search of all three points. While the Serbians have proven to be a tough nut to crack, we are backing Portugal to come away with all three points, albeit by a narrow margin.
Prediction: Portugal 2-1 Serbia
