SLOVENIA entertain Bulgaria in their final send-off before the Euros on Sunday in Ljubljana.
And it's a game where England should take note.
Matjaz Kek's side face the Three Lions at the Euros in the last game of the group stages. Before then they play against Denmark and Serbia in a tricky-looking section for them.
They should know all about the Danes though having also played them in qualifying where they did very well to finish level on points with them.
And they are on a very decent run at the moment with just one loss in their last 12 matches and that was in Copenhagen.
They have gone under the radar when it comes to dark horses for the Europs but Northern Ireland fans certainly know about them having lost to Slovenia home and away in the qualifiers.
And most impressive of all was a 2-0 home win over Portugal in a March friendly which followed up a win against the USA in January.
They face a Bulgaria side who claimed a goalless draw against Euro 2024 qualifiers Romania this week and have improved after a horrific qualifying campaign where they failed to win a game.
How the bookies view it: Hosts odds-on to win
Slovenia are odds-on at 4/6 to get the win here with the Bulgarians 15/4 and the draw 29/10. All prices are with bet365.
Recent head to heads: Bulgaria unbeaten
Slovenia have never managed to defeat Bulgaria in four meetings and the visitors have also beaten them in the two games played in Slovenia.
Players to watch: Mlakar on the mark
Former Brighton striker Jan Mlakar now plays for Pisa in Serie B and he netted in their midweek win over Armenia. He is 13/5 to score anytime with bet365.
Aleksandar Kolev plays for Krumovgrad in the top flight of his homeland and is the favourite to score anytime for Bulgaria with bet365 at 4/1.
Predicted line-ups:
Slovenia have still to reduce a 30-man squad for the Euros and this could go a significant way to deciding that.
Bulgaria have no fresh injury worries after their draw in Bucharest.
Slovenia: Oblak, Stojanovic, Blazic, Bijol, Janza, Horvat, Gorenc Stankovic, Gnezda Cerin, Lovric, Ilicic, Sesko.
Bulgaria: Mitov, Antov, Nedyalkov, Atanasov, Popov, Gruev, Kostadinov, Krastev, Delev, Despodov, Kirilov.
Anything else catch the eye?
Slovenia musr be going into this game full of confidence after an excellent recent run and should have too much for their visitors.
But they are too short to back at that price on their own for a match before the Euros with players hardly expected to go at full tilt.
Slovenia have won six and drawn once in their last seven games at their Ljubljana fortress and the call here is to back them to win and under 2.5 goals at a decent 12/5 with bet365, since the visitors have kept two clean sheets in their last three matches.
However, Bulgaria have problems scoring too and this could be a narrow win to nil for the hosts. Try a 2-0 home win at 6/1 for a decent-looking long shot with bet365.
This International Friendly match between Slovenia and Bulgaria will be played on Jun 9, 2024 and kick off at 13:00. Check below for our tipsters best Slovenia vs Bulgaria prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
