Romania vs Serbia 14/10/18

14 October 2018

In the UEFA Nations League Group C4, Romania will host Serbia at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, intending to register their first competitive victory in 2018.

The Tricolours have failed to qualify for the recently finished World Cup in Russia after finishing fourth in their respective qualifying group, behind the likes of Montenegro, Denmark, and Poland. However, Cosmin Contra’s team is undefeated this year, as they’ve clinched four successive triumphs in international friendlies, including the one against Chile, before being held to two straight draws to Montenegro and Serbia in the Nations League. Additionally, Romania scored at least two goals in four out of six meetings in2018, while keeping a clean sheet three times in the process.

On the other hand, the Eagles have failed to advance to the knockout stage in Russia, having suffered an early elimination mainly thanks to a 2-1 defeat to Switzerland in the second round. The World Cup failure seemed to have had a negative impact on the team, who then barely managed to beat Lithuania in Nations League opener before playing out a 2-2 home draw with their subsequent opponents. Furthermore, a few notable first-team members have decided to leave the national team after the final tournament, which forced Mladen Krstajic to include some new faces into his squad.

According to the latest reports, Contra will have all of his key players fit and ready for the encounter. Meanwhile, Roma’s Aleksandar Kolarov, Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic, and Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic won’t be playing for the visitors, with Partizan Belgrade’s Nemanja Miletic and Red Stars’ Branko Jovicic expected to make their national team debut.