World Cup
2010-06-23 - Australia vs Serbia
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
FIFA World Cup: Group D
Wednesday, 23rd June 2010 – kickoff 20:30
Australia
Australia failed to win against Ghana, but even with that draw they still have chances and this is a crucial group match which will decide who will progress. Australia are last in the group with one point but with a win combined with Ghana loss against Germany they will have big chance to go further.
However, i think that this team lacks discipline in order to achieve something more. Harry Kewell will miss this match against Serbia due to his red card and interesting statistic is that that red card was sixth red card that has been shown to an Aussie player in the last four World Cup matches, starting from WC 2006 in Germany.
Also the central defender Craig Moore will miss this match because he got his second yellow card of the tournament in the match against Ghana. But good news will be the return in the starting line up of Tim Cahill who is expected to lead his team to success in this match. Brett Holman had a great match and scored for Australia against Ghana proving himself as a decent substitute of Cahill.
There are lots of calculations before the last round but what would be best for Australia is Germany to beat Ghana by more than two goals and Australia to beat Serbia and hope to have better goal difference than Ghana to finish second.
Serbia
Serbia bounced back quickly after the first round draw against Ghana with a huge 1-0 win over Germany which boosted their confidence prior this match. The things are simpler for Serbia-they need a win against Australia to progress no matter the outcome of the match Ghana-Germany. They can even go further with a draw against Australia, but in that case Ghana should beat Germany.
The team knows that they will have to repeat their performance against Germany and the team captain Nemanja Vidic demanded from his teammates to stay focused and that the win against Germany won`t count much if they don`t win against Australia.
Probably the line up will be consisted with two strikers – Nikola Zigic and Milan Jovanovic who were dangerous tandem against Germany. That means that Marko Pantelic will be at the bench again.
Neven Subotic did a great job in the defense replacing Dragutinovic in the last match so I expect him to be starter again.
FIFA World Cup 2010 - Group D Standings
Group D W D L F A GD Pts
Ghana 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4
Germany 1 0 1 4 1 +3 3
Serbia 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
Australia 0 1 1 1 5 -4 1
The Betting Verdict
Serbia have destiny in their own hands unlike Australia who should win and wait for the outcome of the other match in the group.
Although many people expect Australia to win here, i expect the opposite. The absence of Kewell and Moore combined with the open criticism towards coach Verbeek might be too much for Australians. I think that they will start a bit nervous, rushing to get the lead as early as possible, which will create space for the Serbians.
I think Serbia will start by slowly creating chances and probably taking the lead by the second half. With some calculations they can progress even with a draw, but i think they will show a good performance and get a narrow win.
The Pick :
Australia 1-2 Serbia
