UEFA Nations
2026-09-27 - Serbia vs Netherlands
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Nations League Match Day 2
Sunday 27th September 2026 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV
Serbia
Germany and the Netherlands make up this Nations League Group and so Serbia's home defeat to Greece feels like it could be a bitter blow to their hopes of remaining at this level. The format will give Serbia a chance, but this is a national team that have had issues with their confidence and who have a manager under significant pressure.
He has yet to hit his first year mark as manager of Serbia, but Veljko Paunovic failed in his task to take the team to the World Cup Finals and the opening defeat to Greece has increased the pressure. In the last edition of the Nations League, Serbia had to beat Austria over two Legs to retain their place in League A, while they had been unbeaten in 4 at home and kept clean sheets in each of those matches.
Serbia finished behind England and Albania in the last World Cup Qualifying Group and they have lost 7 of the last 10 games played overall, including the last 3 in succession. Even that home form shown in the last Nations League tournament deserted Serbia in the World Cup Qualifiers when they failed to score in defeats to England (0-5) and Albania (0-1).
Dusan Vlahovic's absence was felt on Match Day 1 and that may continue to be the case as others look to find a way to replace his production.
Netherlands
A late goal may have been needed to earn Netherlands a draw against Germany in Xavi's first match in charge of this national team, but it was more than deserved result. Xavi will be looking for his squad to build on that in the remainder of this extended international break as Netherlands look to return to the Nations League Quarter Final as a minimum expectation.
The poor World Cup Finals performance meant Netherlands wanted to freshen up the manager role and so Xavi was appointed to take over from Ronald Koeman. This makes Xavi the first Spanish manager of the Dutch national team and first foreign born manager since Ernst Happel who took the Netherlands to the World Cup Final in 1978.
Netherlands were beaten in the Second Round on Penalties at the World Cup this past summer and the overall performances had been pretty inconsistent. Two years ago, Netherlands reached the Euro 2024 Semi Final and so the new manager is tasked with helping mould this squad into one that can go further at the next European Championships. Netherlands won 3 of the 4 away World Cup Qualifiers played, but failed to win any of 4 away Nations League fixtures in the 2024/25 edition, although 3 ended in draws after normal time.
Brian Brobbey picked up an injury in the draw with Germany and that will be a concern for Sunderland fans.
Head to Head
These two nations are meeting for the first time.
Netherlands did beat Serbia & Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup Finals.
Prediction
Winning away games in the Nations League is much tougher than in the Qualifiers for either the European Championship or World Cup and that is because of the way the Groups have been split.
Netherlands found that out in the 2024/25 Nations League, but they looked pretty good as an attacking unit on Match Day 1 and can take them with them as they travel for back to back away games.
First up is a trip to a Serbian team that are lacking confidence and who have seen the defeats pile up.
Missing the World Cup will have felt like a huge blow and Serbia lost at home to both England and Albania, while also suffering a defeat in the Nations League on Match Day 1 when hosting Greece. They struggled defensively and that is something that can be exploited by Netherlands, who created very good opportunities against Germany.
Nothing will come easily for Netherlands, but they can use the superior quality in the final third at both ends of the pitch to eventually earn a relatively comfortable victory here.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Serbia 0-2 Netherlands
