World Cup warm up: Serbia looking for Mitrovic to deliver against Switzerland
All in all, it wasn’t the worst performance in the world from Aleksandar Mitrovic in Serbia’s 1-0 win over Costa Rica. The 23-year-old won six aerial duels, made three tackles, completed one dribble and made one key pass in the victory. An additional four shots earned him a WhoScored.com rating of 7.36 in the victory.
However, as impressive as Mitrovic was, the profligate performance was a blip on the record. The young forward effectively did everything but score against Costa Rica and while it didn’t have a negative impact on the match for Serbia, with Aleksandar Kolarov’s stunning free-kick winning them all three points, a failure to hit the back of the net could come back to haunt the Eagles as the competition progresses.
All being said, it was a goal short of the perfect striker’s performance as Mladen Krstajic secured his first ever competitive win as a head coach. As Brazil drew 1-1 with Switzerland, Serbia are very much in the driving seat in their quest to secure a last-16 spot. If they beat Switzerland on Friday night, then they’ll guarantee their place in the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time since their history after their split with Montenegro.
As Switzerland proved, though, they are no pushovers after their draw with Brazil. The centre-back partnership of Fabian Schar and Manuel Akanji is solid, but Mitrovic will relish the physical battle as he looks to mark his mark his Russia. The striker ended the Championship campaign in fine form, scoring 12 from 19 league appearances, and Serbia will now look for him to carry that into the World Cup.
Yet, three goals in his last seven, all of those coming in a 5-1 win over Bolivia, is hardly a return to shout home about and it’s key Mitrovic up the ante for both himself and Serbia against Switzerland. Failure to do so could make for another nervy World Cup showing in Friday’s final match.
Writer predictions:
Martin Laurence - Serbia 1-0 Switzerland
Ben McAleer - Serbia 1-1 Switzerland
Josh Wright - Serbia 2-1 Switzerland
