Perhaps we didn’t see the real Serbia in their opening Group D match on Sunday. Despite having classy players in every department, it was a stuttering performance from Raddy Antic’s team, who cannot afford to lose in Port Elizabeth on Friday night.

While the bookmakers have pushed their odds on victory right out, this might be an overreaction to Ghana’s 1-0 win and also Germany’s 4-0 victory over Australia later that day. While Joachim Low’s team played some very good football, they were flattered by a poor Aussie performance and the sending off of Tim Cahill.

Indeed, Serbia would have kept a clean sheet if a penalty hadn’t foolishly been conceded in the dying minutes of the game and perhaps the time is right for Dejan Stankovic to show why he was part of a Champions League winning team with Inter. The manager will expect brighter performances from Milos Krasic and Marko Pantelic and this match should be a lot tighter than the current odds suggest.

PREDICTION: SERBIA +0.5 on ASIAN HANDICAP @ 2.35 with bet365