Sports Mole previews Sunday’s European Under-17s Championship clash between Czech Republic Under-17s and Serbia Under-17s, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Czech Republic Under-17s and Serbia Under-17s will be bidding for top spot in Group B when they go head-to-head in Sunday’s clash at the European Under-17 Championship.
Both teams have collected six points from their two matches, with the Czech Republic sitting in pole position due to their superior goal difference.
Match preview
Czech Republic have already booked their place in the knockout rounds for the first time since they finished runners-up at the 2006 tournament.
They flew out of the blocks with a dominant 5-0 win over tournament hosts Cyprus, before they produced another free-scoring display in Thursday’s clash with Ukraine.
Lukas Moudry netted a 12th-minute penalty to lay the platform for Ondrej Penxa to score a second-half brace and wrap up a commanding 3-0 victory.
Having secured their place in the quarter-finals, the Czech Republic will advance as the group winners as long as they avoid defeat against Serbia.
They can certainly take confidence from the fact they have lost just one of their previous five matches, with their sole loss taking place against Poland in qualifying.
Serbia took points from their first two matches to seal advance to the knockout rounds for the third consecutive European Under-17 Championship.
They required just one goal to see off Ukraine on matchday one, before they fought back from a goal down to beat Cyprus on Thursday.
Mihajlo Cvetkovic struck in first-half stoppage time to cancel out Petros Ioannou‘s opener, before Viktor Stojanovic and Vasilije Kostov grabbed a goal apiece to clinch a 3-1 victory.
Serbia now have the chance to win their group for the first time in tournament history after settling for second place in 2022 and 2023.
Jovan Damjanovic‘s side simply have to claim all three points if they are to leapfrog the Czech Republic in the final group game, before they turn their focus to a quarter-final clash against one of Austria, Denmark or Croatia.
Czech Republic Under-17s European Under-17s Championship form:
Serbia Under-17s European Under-17s Championship form:
Team News
Serbia’s Kostov could be rewarded with a starting place following his goalscoring appearance in Thursday’s win over Cyprus
Stefan Mladenovic is also in contention to start after being introduced alongside Kostov at half-time on matchday two.
Meanwhile, Czech Republic boss Jiri Zilak could be tempted to recall Marek Naskos, Adam Sosna and Matyas Nechvatal.
Penxa will be looking to continue his impressive form after scoring three goals in the opening two group matches.
Czech Republic Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Jovanovic; Bubanja, Milosavljevic, Stojanovic, Premovic; Maksimovic, Rostov, Vasilic; Rankovic, Mladenovic, Cvetkovic
Serbia Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Obdrzalek; Rehacek, Krpalek, Micek, Kolisek; Sloncik, Naskos; Sosna, Moudry, Penxa; Nechvatal
We say: Czech Republic Under-17s 2-2 Serbia Under-17s
Both teams will be full of confidence after claiming maximum points in their first two matches, but we think the two in-form sides will have to settle for a draw in Sunday’s contest, which would see the Czech Republic advance as group winners.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.