Dusan Tadic is back in the Serbia starting line-up for today’s Euro 2024 clash with Slovenia.
But they are without Juventus winger Filip Kostic, who was forced off in the first half of his country’s opening Group C defeat by England in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday night and, as Serbia boss Dragan Stojkovic feared, the issue is a significant one, and he will now fly home.
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“He will go do all the medical check-ups,” Stojkovic said after the match at the weekend. “He has felt pain in his external part of the knee. I believe that ligaments are in question but I cannot say something with certainty as we’re not sure. He has ice on his knees.”
With Kostic ruled out, Filip Mladenovic comes in at left wing-back for Serbia against Slovenia, as he did off the bench against England.
Captain Tadic was surprisingly named among the substitutes for the opening match, coming on for the final 30 minutes, but he is in the XI this afternoon as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic drops out. Nemanja Gudelj is also dropped, for Ivan Ilic.
Slovenia are unchanged having come through their draw with Denmark on Sunday without any fresh injuries. That opening point means victory over Serbia would likely be enough to secure a place in the last-16, before they face England in their final group-stage match in Cologne on Tuesday night.
Benjamin Sesko will again lead the line as he looks for his first goal of the Euros, having smacked an effort off the woodwork against Denmark.
Benjamin Verbic is once again an option off the bench. The winger was battling a hamstring injury ahead of the tournament, but recovered to make the bench against Denmark and featured for 25 minutes off the bench.
Slovenia XI: Oblak; Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Janza; Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar; Sporar, Sesko
Subs: Balkovec, Blazic, Stankovic, Verbic, Lovric, Belec, Kurtic, Horvat, Vekic, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Zugelj, Zeljkovic, Ilicic
Serbia XI: Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Ilic, Lukic, Mladenovic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic
Subs: Stojic, Maksimovic, Gudelj, Jovic, Kostic, Petrovic, Babic, Mijailovic, Ratkov, Samardzic, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Gacinovic, V. Milinkovic-Savic, Spajic, Birmancevic
Time and date: 2pm BST on Thursday June 20, 2024
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich
TV channel: ITV1
