Slovakia will be looking to make a positive start to their Euro 2024 qualifiers as they begin their Group J campaign with a clash against Luxembourg. The visitors are usually the whipping boys of most qualifying campaigns and Slovakia will be confident of beginning with a win.
This will be the first international outing for Slovakia since November having missed out on the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Francesco Calzona's men have not been at their best lately and are winless in their last five matches across all competitions, a run stretching back to June.
The problem for Slovakia is that they have been plagued by too many draws lately having been held in their last three matches. Their most recent fixture was a 0-0 draw with Chile in a friendly back in November.
The problem for Slovakia is that they seem to do their best work on their travels and are winless in their last five home matches. However, three of those matches have ended in draws, while they have also kept just one clean sheet in that run.
Luxembourg have a reputation for being the whipping boys of most qualifying groups but head into Thursday’s opener in good form. They are unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches across all competitions, although only ten of those fixtures have been wins.
Like Slovakia, Luxembourg have also been plagued by too many draws lately having been held four times in their last five matches in all competitions. Their previous fixture was a 0-0 draw with Bulgaria back in November.
Another similarity with Slovakia is that Luxembourg often struggle to keep things tight at the back. They have failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their last six matches across all competitions with a 3-3 draw with Turkey among their results in that run.
How the bookies view it
Slovakia have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 8/15 by SBK. A victory for Luxembourg is valued at 6/1 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 17/5 by Paddy Power.
Head to head
Slovakia will be banking on their superior record in this fixture having claimed four wins and suffered just one defeat from five previous fixtures with Luxembourg. The most recent meeting was a Euro 2016 qualifier which the Slovaks won 4-2.
Players to watch
Robert Polievka comes into the international break in good form having scored seven goals in his last seven matches for domestic club MFK Dukla. Alongside the likes of Robert Bozenik and Adam Zrelak, Slovakia could be tipped to produce over 1.5 goals with BetVictor.
Luxembourg have also shown they can hold their own in attack with Gerson Rodrigues scoring in four of his last five international appearances. Alessio Curci has also impressed lately and both men can combine to produce over 0.5 goals on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye
Slovakia and Luxembourg often struggle defensively and given their quality in attack, both teams can be backed to score at evens with William Hill. Luxembourg saw over 3.5 fixture in their previous away fixture and a repeat is priced at 9/4 with bet365 while over 2.5 goals is valued at 13/15 with SBK.
Given the minimal odds for a straight Slovakia victory, a win and over 2.5 goals can be considered at 7/5 with 10bet. The Slovaks could also be tipped to score in both halves on Thursday at 6/4 with bet365.
This Euro 2024 match between Slovakia and Luxembourg will be played on Mar 23, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Slovakia vs Luxembourg prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
