Serbia and Republic of Ireland kick-off their World Cup qualifying campaigns on Monday night as the two teams meet in Belgrade.
The clash promises to be a highly unpredictable one. Serbia has a highly-rated young squad, but their results have been erratic over the past few years. However, the Eagles have made a decent start under new boss Slavoljub Muslin and will look to build on a four-match unbeaten run.
Serbia has not qualified for a major tournament in a decade, having last appeared at World Cup 2006 in Germany. The current group of players will want to put that record straight in a group that looks pretty open at the moment.
The likes of Wales and Austria will also be looking at an automatic qualification spot as achievable this time around, but Serbia and Ireland will expect to be in the mix for the one automatic qualification spot or the runners-up spot.
Ireland’s away record is not great, as Martin O’Neill’s side have won just two of their last 14 games on their travels, although they did beat Italy at Euro 2016 in France. It would be a very good start to their qualification for Ireland if they recorded a win.
On paper, Serbia has a very good mix of young and old highly-rated players, but they have not yet quite lived up to their potential just yet. This clash is a highly unpredictable clash and a draw would be the logical result.
However, you just never know what you are going to get when it comes to Serbia, so anything is possible.