As possibly the only person from Scotland who properly follows both Scottish football and Serbian football, it’s time to do a bit of an analysis thread on Scotland drawing Serbia in the Euro 2020 playoff...

1 - Where Serbia are weakest, Scotland are strongest. If a nation could produce every position except for producing a good right back, then it’s Serbia. Given Scotland have two of the world’s best left wing backs, that’s a big area to exploit.

2 - Where Scotland are weakest, Serbia are strongest. Scotland don’t have top class centre backs, Serbia have Mitrovic, a genuinely world class striker who scores for fun at international level. Blunt Mitro and you’ve still got Jovic and Vlahovic in reserve. What. A. Roster.

2a - In case you’re thinking “Well, Lyndon Dykes might get some joy”, Serbia will just stick Nikola Milenkovic on him. That’s Nikola Milenkovic, the breakout defensive star of the 2018 World Cup. This defence shut Haaland up and Dykes is no Haaland.

2b - Okay, to be fair, Kolarov will be employed as a CB but what you lose in a natural CB you gain in his set piece taking. If Scotland want obvious joy, deep crosses from the left to the far post is the way to go - but it relies on good deliveries and support from the right.

3 - Scotland do have a better manager. Tumbakovic isn’t bad, but let’s not forget he got hired after being sacked by Montenegro for refusing to play Kosovo because he didn’t recognise its existence. That helped his CV for the Serbia job...

...For Scots, I’d compare it to if Rangers decided to make Bomber Brown manager - Yes, he could do the job, he might even be okay at it, but we’d all know he just got the job for being staunch. That’s Tumbakovic.

(Okay, that belittles his extraordinary time at Partizan and success in China, but that was quite some time ago now, to be fair. The farce vs Russia is a far more recent black mark against him)

4 - Scotland’s moves to three at the back have been stuttering, but Serbia’s are embryonic. In spite of the fact that it was the obvious thing to do given the lack of right backs, it’s still fresh to them and the “who supports Mitro” question is still unsolved.

5 - Central midfield is the interesting one because McGregor-McGinn-Christie vs a probable Tadic-Milivojevic-Maksimovic is broadly even - Scotland has more mobility, Serbia more height and strength. And they have Tadic. And SMS...

Seriously, Serbia have an embarrassment of riches there. I’d be partial to a 3-5-1-1 with Tadic in behind Mitro and then SMS-Milivojevic-Maksimovic in behind. Either way, it’s an intriguing battleground, made more intriguing by...

5 - Scotland’s right back area is a problem area. But Filip Kostic is unlikely to be fit for the playoff final so Mihailo Ristic fits in. But he’s offering less in attack than Kostic would. If a team gets control of that flank, they gain a big advantage.

So, who wins? If Scotland can boss their left through Robertson, his crossing is good and McGinn (in particular) can get space and drive on, Scotland have a fair chance. If they don’t, Serbia will beat them handily. The Scottish soft central defence area vs Mitro is worrying.

All things going normally, Serbia will win. Scotland have, to be fair, been rotten lately yet still got results. But neither Israel nor Czech B have anything like the attacking roster Serbia do and a repeat of recent performances vs Serbia will result in Serbia winning with ease.

To add one more thing - Scotland, managed well, can get to the Euros. Serbia, managed well, can win the Euros. That’s the big difference.