Serbia v England predictions: Three Lions should win entertaining opener

Kick-off time: Sunday 16 June, 20:00, Gelsenkirchen

England arrive at Euro 2024 as favourites to lift the trophy and they will be aiming for a statement of intent in Sunday's opening Group C fixture against Serbia.

A 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final warm-up game has tempered expectations slightly but there is no doubt that Gareth Southgate's squad has the attacking firepower to go close.

Southgate led the Three Lions to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, where they lost 2-1 to Croatia in extra-time, before an agonising penalty-shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

England took the lead inside five minutes in both of those games but were unable to press home their advantage and their 2022 World Cup campaign ended in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France.

Captain Harry Kane's late penalty miss proved costly against Les Bleus but England's record goalscorer will be raring to go in Germany, where he had a magnificent debut season for Bayern Munich.

Striker Kane will be surrounded by in-form attacking midfielders such as Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham, who won La Liga and the Champions League in his first campaign with Real Madrid.

Finding the right balance will be crucial to England's chances of ending their 58-year wait for a major trophy but their forwards should be too sharp for Serbia on matchday one.

Serbia finished as runners-up to Hungary in their qualifying group and their defensive deficiencies cost them at the 2022 World Cup.

After a 2-0 defeat to Brazil, the Serbs drew 3-3 with Cameroon and lost 3-2 to Switzerland, letting slip leads in both games.

The star names in their squad are mainly attacking players such as former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, Juventus frontman Dusan Vlahovic and experienced playmaker Dusan Tadic.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic also poses a goal threat from midfield and Milan forward Luka Jovic has scored ten times in 35 international appearances but Serbia look less convincing at the back.

Having conceded eight goals in three group games at the World Cup, they come into the Euros on a run of just two clean sheets in 12 matches.

They beat Sweden 3-0 in their last friendly before the finals but conceded twice in the first 13 minutes of a 2-1 defeat to Austria earlier this month and lost 4-0 to Russia in March.

There are also doubts over the England defence. Harry Maguire, a mainstay of the rearguard under Southgate, has been ruled out and his Manchester United teammate Luke Shaw, the only specialist left-back in the squad, has not played since February.

England's only clean sheets in their last ten internationals came in home matches against Australia, Malta and Bosnia so they may struggle to shut out a dangerous Serbia side.

England to win and both teams to score looks a good bet – they thrashed Iran 6-2 in their first group game at the World Cup – and Milinkovic-Savic is a likely candidate to be shown a card.

He was booked against the Swiss on matchday three at the World Cup and picked up ten yellow cards in 34 Serie A starts for Lazio in 2022-23 before moving to Saudi Arabia.