SLOVAKIA and Romania do battle in a critical clash at Deutsche Bank Park at Euro 2024 on Wednesday evening.
Group E is on a knife edge ahead of the final round of matches this midweek.
Remarkably, all four sides are locked on three points, meaning each of their respective qualification hopes are hanging by a thread.
Slovakia failed to secure their spot in the round of 16 last Friday when losing 2-1 to Ukraine, in a game that brought up one of my bets.
Similarly, Romania came up short in their second outing of the tournament, after they were turned over 2-0 by Belgium.
Given the current state of play in the section, a share of the spoils in Frankfurt could be enough to send both nations through to the knockout round.
How the bookies view it: Deutsche Bank Park draw in-store
Unsurprisingly, the bookmakers are anticipating that both sides will pick up a point from their final Group E fixture, an outcome currently trading at 23/20 on Betfred. However, a potentially shrewder way to squeeze more value out of the draw is by using Betfred’s Bet Builder tool. Combining a stalemate with under 2.5 goals will bolster the odds up to 3/2 (Betfred).
Slovakia are deemed the more likely of the two sides to triumph, with a Falcons success on offer at 21/10 on Betfred. Romania, on the other hand, are 11/4 (Betfred) outsiders to bank the win that would guarantee a last-16 berth.
Head to head: History favours Romania
Slovakia and Romania have come up against each other 11 times on the international stage, with the Wolves avoiding defeat on 10 of those occasions.
Wednesday evening’s meeting will represent the first meeting between the two sides since coming up against each other in an international friendly in August of 2013, in a game that ended 1-1.
Players to watch: Schranz seeking another strike
Ivan Schranz is the only player to have scored for Slovakia at Euro 2024 so far, having netted once in each of the Falcons’ opening two Group E fixtures. The Slavia Prague forward is a tempting 9/2 (Betfred) to make it three goals in as many games on Wednesday evening.
Nicolae Stanciu, who was the driving force behind Romania’s 3-0 win over Ukraine, is 5/1 (Betfred) to find the back of the net in Frankfurt.
Predicted line-ups
Slovakia have a clean bill of health going into this crunch clash, so manager Francesco Calzonais is not expected to make too many changes to his side.
Valentin Mihaila replaced Florinel Coman in Romania’s starting XI against Belgium last time out and the former could get the nod again in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
Slovakia: Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Bozeník, Haraslin
Romania: Pentz; Nita; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; R Marin, M Marin, Stanciu; Man, Dragus, Mihaila
Anything else catch the eye?
Lukas Haraslin hit the target twice against Ukraine last time out and he looks worth siding with at 5/6 on Betfred to register another on-target effort during his side’s final Group E outing.
It’s also worth pointing out that the 28-year-old winger was averaging one shot on target per game during Euro 2024 qualifying for the Falcons.
With all that in mind, the 5/6 on offer with Betfred for a solitary Haraslin shot on target looks worthy of interest at Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday evening.
This Euro 2024 match between Slovakia and Romania will be played on Jun 26, 2024 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Slovakia vs Romania prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
