Slovenia vs Serbia Prediction: Expect the unexpected
Two countries who used to fall under the Yugoslavian Federation find themselves playing on opposing sides. Despite their shared political history and their former unity in international sports like soccer. Slovenia and Serbia come against each other as two powerhouses that have produced some of the worlds best soccer talents.
They have met in previous international competitions, just not the Euros. They have met in the UEFA Nations League, where Serbia were the better side, securing a 4-1 victory of Slovenia and a 2-2 draw the last time they met in the UEFA Nations League. All I can say is, expect the unexpected when these two teams lock horns.
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Team News
Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek is expected to name an unchanged side on Thursday evening. For Serbia, Filip Kostic has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament after sustaining a knee injury against England last time out. So Filip Mladenovic is set to replace him at left wing. The midfield is expected to remain unchanged, unless coach Stojkovic moves Milinkovic-Savic into a deeper midfield role, giving an opportunity for Dusan Tadic to start the match.
Slovenia Predicted Line-up (4-4-2): Oblak; Karnicnik, Blazic, Bijol, Janza; Stojanovic, Gnezda Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar; Sporar, Sesko
Serbia Predicted Line-up (3-4-2-1): V. Milinkovic-Savic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Gudelj, Mladenovic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic
Slovenia vs Serbia Odds
The Odds on Slovenia to win this match are set at 19/5 and 49/20 for the draw. With Serbia's odds of winning this match set at 81/100. The Odds on both teams to score are set at 89/100
3 Way - Draw 49/20
This edition of the Euros has cemented the statement "there is no small match or small team". These two sides are packed with stars who play in in every corner of the European football landscape. Slovenia are captained by world class goalkeeper Jan Oblak and Serbia are captained by goalscoring wonder, Aleksander Mitrovic. This encounter is one you cannot afford to miss or leave out of your betslip. The Serbs will play a high octane style of football with plenty of crosses flying into the box for Mitrovic to slot home.
Slovenia won't look to risk their clean sheet and go on an all out attack. They will approach this match, the same way they approached their match against Denmark. with a low block and chances created on the counter. They had 32% of the ball in the previous match, with Denmark enjoying 68% of the possession and registering 658 passes in 90 minutes of play. Denmark also had the lions share of the chances created with 16 shots at goal, three of which were saved by Oblak and only two were big chances. Slovenia are not vulnerable defensively. With more fire power upfront, they would have won their match against Denmark.
Historically, Serbia have not kept a clean sheet against Slovenia in each of their last four encounters.Slovenia are on a run of seven matches with out a loss, in five of their last seven matches they have been the first team on the score sheet. The last time they recored a loss was in November of 2023, when they lost 2-1 to Denmark in the European Championship qualifiers.
Since then they have played USA, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Malta, Armenia, Bulgaria and Denmark without suffering a single defeat. Serbia on the other hand have suffered defeats against England, Austria, Russia and Belgium in the same period. They managed to register two wins, they came against Cyprus and Sweden which is far from impressive. There is a lot to play for in a group, where England are seen as favourites to progress. Second spot is still up for grabs and with the pundits, fans and bookies backing England to win against Denmark. A win in this fixture will go a long way towards qualifying for the next round. I am of the option that these two teams will cancel each other out and play out to a draw or a win for Slovenia 89/100.
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