All you need to know about England v Serbia as Three Lions begin quest for glory

England will get their Euro 2024 campaign up and running against Serbia this Sunday evening, live on talkSPORT.

The Three Lions enter the competition in Germany among the favourites but come into their opener following defeat to Iceland.

Gareth Southgate‘s side fell to a shock 1-0 loss at Wembley in their send-off, raising doubts about the country’s chances of success.

However, the friendly isn’t likely to have shown their true colours and they will still be aiming to go one step further than four years ago by getting their hands on the trophy.

England return to Euros action in Group C and take on Serbia first before facing a tough clash against Denmark and then Slovenia.

The Serbs will be a tough opponent but Southgate’s men will be buoyed by the fact that they are undefeated in the last six meetings between the sides.

England v Serbia: talkSPORT coverage

England’s opening Euro 2024 tie will take place on Sunday, June 16.

It is being held at Schalke’s VELTINS-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and will kick off at 8pm UK time.

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham.

Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot, former England captain Stuart Pearce and former England defender Ashley Young.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

The tie will also be shown on free-to-air TV on BBC One.

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Serbia vs England: Team news

England confirmed their 26-man squad for Euro 2024 last week and Jack Grealish was among those left at home.

Grealish, James Maddison and Harry Maguire were the three big names to not make the final Three Lions outfit.

Luke Shaw is in the team, however, he is unavailable for this opening clash while Lewis Dunk is fighting to be fit.

During the defeat to Iceland, John Stones picked up a knock but he is expected to start alongside Marc Guehi at centre-back.

Stones also missed training on Wednesday due to illness but returned to action on Thursday alongside his teammates.

Former Newcastle and Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will be a major threat for Serbia while Sergej Milinkovic-Savic should start.

Serbia squad

• Goalkeepers: Vanja Milinkovic Savic (Turin), Predrag Rajkovic (Majorca), Dorde Petrovic (Chelsea), Aleksandar Jovanovic (Partizan)
• Defenders: Strahinja Pavlovic (RB Salzburg), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Srdan Babic (Spartak Moscow), Uros Spajic (Red Star), Strahinja Erakovic (Zenit), Nemanja Stojic (TSC), Jan Karlo Simic (Milan)
• Midfielders: Sasa Lukic (Fulham), Nemanja Gudelj (Seville), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Ivan Ilic (Torino), Sasa Zdjelar (CSKA Moscow), Srdjan Mijailovic (Red Star), Sergej Milinkovic Savic (Al Hilal), Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce), Samed Bazdar (Partizan), Aleksandar Cirkovic (TSC), Lazar Samardzic (Udinese), Veljko Birmancevic (Sparta Prague), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Filip Mladenovic (Panathinaikos), Matija Gluscevic (Radnički 1923), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Mijat Gacinovic (AEK), Nemanja Radonjic (Majorca)
• Forwards: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Luka Jovic (Milan), Petar Ratkov (RB Salzburg), Mihailo Ivanovic (Vojvodina)

England squad

• Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).
• Defenders: Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
• Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).
• Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

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Serbia vs England: What has been said?

Conor Gallagher knows how important a win the first game of Euro 2024 will be for England this weekend.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Gallagher said: “[It’s] very important.

“In tournament football, just doing the first thing as well as you can even if it’s the right pass, winning a tackle, header, second balls, the basics to give the whole team confidence to win the first game. 

“Although the Iceland game wasn’t a good result and not the best performance, it could be good that it happened.

“It was a bit of a wake-up call for us that it’s not easy to win games against any country. 

“We’re going to be more than ready to beat Serbia.”

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England’s Euro 2024 fixtures

Sunday, June 16

Matchday One: England v Serbia (8pm) – Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen

Thursday, June 20

Matchday Two: Denmark vs England (5pm) – Waldstadion, Frankfurt

Tuesday, June 25

Matchday Three: England vs Slovenia (8pm) – RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne

The Round of 16 will then get going on Saturday, June 29.

The knockout phase will run until the final in Berlin on Sunday, July 14.

Serbia vs England: Betting with talkSPORT BET

Match Odds:

Serbia – 13/2

Draw – 10/3

England – 2/5

*odds subject to change

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