Serbia – Lithuania

The Balkan team will smash their opponents from the Baltic

Belgrade will host one of those opening European Championship qualifying fixtures in which the difference in class between the opponents is the size of the abyss. Together with Serbia and Lithuania, Hungary, Montenegro and Bulgaria find themselves in qualifying Group G, making this one of the most competitive quintet in the European campaign. The Serbs certainly need to start the tournament with a win. Dragan Stojkovic's core squad has a transfer value of around €353.7 million, according to specialist resources. Each of the twelve most expensive Serbian players is worth more than the entire Lithuanian national team combined. The Baltic team is valued by transfermarkt at 7.2 million euros, and its most expensive player at 500 thousand euros. Bookmakers have not spared the Lithuanians in their predictions, offering a dominant odds of 1.09 to win the home team. Serbia will approach the start of the new qualifying campaign in a maximally motivated state. The team performed below expectations at the World Cup, failing to compete in the group with Cameroon, Brazil and Switzerland. However, the national football federation decided not to part with Stojkovic. The Serbian side's confident performance prior to the start of the Mundial had a major impact on this decision. In the League of Nations, the Serbian team lost only five points out of eighteen possible in the company of Sweden, Slovenia, and Norway. That allowed Stojkovic's team to top the table and try their luck in League A of the next draw. Lithuania is one of the worst teams in Europe. The country currently sits at No. 144 in the FIFA rankings, next to footballing giants such as Ethiopia, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Botswana. The Lithuanians have only picked up one win in official matches since the start of 2021, when Bulgaria came to Vilnius. Last year's Nations League saw the Lithuanian side crash out of League C, winning just one point in six games against the Faroe Islands, Luxembourg and Turkey. Serbia and Lithuania have met on the pitch four times in recent years. All matches have gone in favour of the Serbs, with the Balkans winning two of their home games by the same score of 4-1. The defeat is also expected next Friday.