England have won each of their last five meetings with Serbia by an aggregate score of 11-3
Serbia have lost just one of their last 24 World Cup qualifiers
England have scored eight goals across their four qualifiers this campaign
Thomas Tuchel could become just the fourth manager to win each of his first five competitive games in charge of England.
Only Fabio Capello (first eight), Ron Greenwood (first six) and Sven-Goran Eriksson (first five) have previously achieved that feat.
Yet it is fair to say that Tuchel is going about it in an incredibly underwhelming fashion. England may be winning, but they are far from setting the world alight.
The latest instalment in Tuchel's underwhelming start came on Saturday, as the Three Lions eased their way to a win over Andorra.
England won 2-0 at Villa Park, thanks to a Christian Garcia own goal and an effort from Declan Rice, but that is the least that could be expected when playing a team ranked 174th in the world by FIFA on home soil.
Tuchel and England will be hoping for an improved display when they travel to Stadion Rajko Mitic on Tuesday and, with the help of Opta insights, we preview the game to see whether the Three Lions can maintain their perfect start to qualifying.
What's expected?
England are the favourites according to the Opta supercomputer, which has run 10,000 data-led simulations.
The Three Lions came out on top in 50.3% of those, while Serbia claimed three points in 26.1%. A draw was the outcome 23.5% of the time.
This will be England's first visit to Serbia as an independent nation, with their last away game against Yugoslavia coming in November 1987, winning 4-1 in a UEFA European Championship qualifier.
Including Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Montenegro, England have won each of their last five meetings with Serbia by an aggregate score of 11-3.
However, Tuesday's clash with Serbia will present a sterner test than England have faced so far.
Serbia have lost just one of their last 24 World Cup qualifiers (W16 D7), losing 3-2 to Austria in October 2017.
Tuchel still finding his feet
While England made it four wins from four to ensure they remained top of Group K against Andorra, much was made of the performance.
The Three Lions mustered up just 11 shots, and only one after Rice's goal in the 67th minute – they last had fewer efforts in a game against a nation ranked outside of the top 100 in March 2011 vs Wales (won 2-0 – 116th ranked).
Gareth Southgate often got criticised for a pragmatic approach when he had so many stars at his disposal, but so far, Tuchel's brand of football is not impressing, even if it is proving effective against (weaker) opponents.
England have scored eight goals across their four qualifiers, while they have registered the fourth-highest expected goals (xG), at 11.0, of any European team.
However, heavyweights like France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain have only just started their campaigns, while other big nations, such as the Netherlands and Italy, have played fewer matches.
No team has averaged more possession (78%) or kept as many clean sheets (four) as England, so Tuchel will point to the numbers as evidence of his approach working, too.
Of the teams to play more than one qualifier so far in this cycle, only the Netherlands (0.7) boast a better xG against figure than England (0.8).
England have not conceded in any of their last six competitive fixtures and could tie their longest ever run of clean sheets in such games, previously keeping seven in a row between October 1988 and October 1989 under Bobby Robson.
At the other end, with Jude Bellingham injured, and Phil Foden not included in this squad, Rice has even more licence to push forward from midfield and will no doubt offer some support to the forward line.
He has now had a hand in seven goals in his last 12 appearances for England (three goals, four assists), having been involved in just three goals in his first 55 international appearances (three goals, no assists).
Noni Madueke played in the cross from which Garcia headed in England's opener against Andorra, and the Arsenal winger finished that match with a game-leading three chances created, while he also successfully completed two of his five dribbles.
Elliot Anderson, meanwhile, impressed on his debut, settling in nicely as a midfield anchor and completing 107 of his 114 passes. He will be eager to shine again if given the nod.
