Kick Off: 1700, 17/06/2017
Stadium: Bydgoszcz Stadium
TV: Sky Sports 1
Portugal were runners-up in the last European Under-21 Championship and can begin their bid to go one better in Poland this summer by beating Serbia on Saturday.
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic scored when the favourites lost 2-0 to Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 renewal of this event, but we expect a different result this weekend.
We’re kicking off our Portugal U21 vs Serbia U21 betting tips, by taking 7/4 for Rui Jorge’s side to be leading at half-time and full-time.
A Look At Portugal U21 Betting Odds
Portugal certainly impressed in qualifying for this tournament, winning eight and drawing two of their 10 matches to top Group 4 by five points ahead of Israel.
The 34 goals they scored in those fixtures was bested only by Germany’s 35 across all pools, and they have added some strong reinforcements for this event.
Renato Sanches earned a move from Benfica to Bayern Munich after being named young player of the tournament following Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph, while winger Bruma has just joined Leipzig from Galatasaray for €12.5m.
Goncalo Paciencia has scored goals all the way through the youth set-up and netted three times at last year’s Olympics, so he appeals at 4/1 to break the deadlock in the Portugal U21 vs Serbia U21 odds.
A Look At Serbia U21 Betting Odds
Serbia had to settle for second place behind Italy in Group 2, despite winning seven of 10 games and scoring a healthy 27 goals.
A 2-1 aggregate win over Norway was enough to see them through the play-offs and they do have some promising youngsters who have progressed from their 2015 U20 World Cup win.
Midfielder Marko Grujic cost Liverpool more than £5m and made five Premier League appearances for the Reds last season.
Andrija Zivkovic is another name to note, with the 20-year-old winger scoring 17 goals in 63 games for Partizan Belgrade before switching to Benfica.
Serbia did twice draw 1-1 with a decent Italy side in qualifying, so 13/5 for Portugal to win and both teams to score takes the eye.
Additional stats
Last qualifying result:
Liechtenstein 1-7 PORTUGAL – Bruno Fernandes, Daniel Podence, Goncalo Guedes (2), Joao Carvalho, Ruben Neves, Ruben Semedo
Norway 1-0 SERBIA
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