This will be England’s biggest test of their qualifying campaign. We really need to book in some games against the more elite sides on the world stage before the World Cup next summer because if England’s collapse against Senegal is anything to go by, then Tuchel still needs to do some serious work with this side to ensure that they are competitive next summer.

The main voice that comes out to counteract this narrative is that Tuchel was brought in to win the World Cup, so it isn’t as important if these qualifiers are a bit shoddy. However, England have developed a reputation, instilled by Southgate, of building real momentum in these qualifying campaigns, which they can then take into an international tournament.

Serbia will be a really tough test; they’ve avoided defeat in their three qualifying matches so far, winning two and drawing one of these fixtures. Their main strength is certainly their organisation at the back, but they carry goal threats as well - namely through their two striking options in Vlahovic and Mitrovic.

I’ll touch on Vlahovic a bit more below, but the pair have scored 77 goals across their 138 combined caps for Serbia. Mitrovic has scored the majority of these and will cause England’s backline problems. Senegal exposed the gaps that England are contending with at the back at the moment, and I think Serbia could do similar.

There’s no player more likely to find the target in an England shirt than Harry Kane. He’s been the most reliable England player for the last five seasons and has scored an impressive 73 goals across his 108 caps for the Three Lions.

Kane had two shots against Andorra, with one of these attempts finding the target. It was a quiet performance from the Bayern Munich striker, but it’s not really fair to single him out, seeing as the performance as a whole for England was pretty pedestrian.

Kane scored in his five previous England appearances prior to the game in Andorra - England’s 2-0 win over the lowest-ranked side in their group was the first of Thomas Tuchel’s games in charge of England in which Kane failed to find the back of the net.

He’s found the target at least once in each of these appearances and should be able to maintain that record here against a Serbia side he found the target against when the sides faced off at the European Championships last summer.

Tuchel is a big fan of Dan Burn. Now that Colwill is out for the majority of the season, I can see Burn being one of the main defensive options on the left side of the backline at the World Cup next summer.

Burn will relish this sort of contest; he’ll be up against two physical strikers in Vlahovic and Mitrovic, who will get direct service from their teammates, which should see Burn be in a few situations where he has to commit a foul.

Burn committed two fouls and was shown a yellow card in England’s 2-0 win over Andorra last time out. We can expect him to be faced with similar scenarios here as he was in that game, with the mainly counterattacking threat that Serbia will pose here.

Both Vlahovic and Mitrovic are pretty strong when it comes to winning fouls. Vlahovic averaged 0.91 fouls won per 90 in Serie A last season, whilst Mitrovic averaged slightly higher at 1.03 fouls won per 90 in the Saudi Pro League.

Vlahovic is on fire at the moment. His winning goal against Latvia last time out marked the fourth game in a row in which he’s found the back of the net for club and country.

What’s perhaps even more impressive about this recent record is the limited minutes that Vlahovic has been given for Juventus this season. The two goals he’s scored in Serie A so far this term have come in just 38 minutes of action.

Vlahovic had five shots in Serbia’s 1-0 win over Latvia last time out. He will expect to have slightly fewer opportunities here against a side with the quality of England, but should take plenty of confidence from his recent performances for club and country.

Vlahovic averaged 3.89 shots per 90 in Serie A last season and has had 13 shots across his three starts in the World Cup Qualifiers so far (4.33 per 90).

It’s not been glamorous, but Thomas Tuchel’s England have managed to win all four of their qualifying matches so far, without conceding a goal.

It goes without saying that this will be England’s toughest assignment in Group K, with Serbia remaining unbeaten across their three qualifying matches so far.

England overcame Serbia in the European Championships last summer by a 1-0 scoreline. I think a similar sort of game should play out here; neither side has displayed an interest in being expressive in qualifying so far, so this could be another boring affair for England, but one that they should still be able to win.

A wider point for Tuchel here is that a win would put eight points between Serbia and England in the group, which should serve as encouragement to Tuchel to ensure that his side gets maximum points here, which would allow him to experiment with different players and systems before the World Cup next year in the remaining qualifiers.

Despite England’s overall performance against Andorra over their two games against them being really underwhelming and a bit laboured, Noni Madueke was a bright spark in both games and can look to cement his spot in the England side, at least in the absence of Bukayo Saka.

Madueke is still looking for his first goal for England but has provided three assists across his eight caps for the Three Lions which shows the quality he can bring to this England side.

I think he’s going to be crucial here if England are to break down a stubborn Serbia side, Madueke isn’t afraid to take his man on at every given opportunity which naturally increases his chances of coming away with some sort of end product.

Madueke will see this as a real opportunity to convince Tuchel that he should be on the plane to America next summer. I think he’ll be up for the challenge and look to get his first ever goal for the Three Lions.

Anderson was impressive on his debut against Andorra. He looked like a player who could rival the likes of Wharton and Jones for the number 6 role for England which is a position that the Three Lions have been struggling to fill for a number of years.

Anderson’s main qualities are definitely on the ball, but he’s also incredibly aggressive without it. Anderson committed two fouls and charged into 14 duels in England’s 2-0 win over Andorra last time out, showing his tenacity, which can occasionally spill over into an infringement.

Anderson collected 10 yellow cards across his 37 Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest last season. We can expect him to pick up a fair few cautions if he continues to play in this defensive midfield role for Thomas Tuchel.