SLOVENIA and Serbia square off in their second Group C fixture at the European Championship as they seek their first win in the competition. Both teams have shown some defensive vulnerability and could be set to serve up goals on Thursday.
Slovenia began their Euro 2024 campaign with a 1-1 draw with Denmark in their opening fixture. They fell behind early in the encounter and laboured for much of the contest before Erik Janza struck the equaliser late on.
Manager Matjaz Kek will be pleased with the fight hack as the result means Slovenia are now unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions. They are often unconvincing at the back and have conceded in five matches in that run.
Serbia head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 1-0 defeat to England in their opening Group C fixture. They attempted a fight back after going behind early in the contest but just could not stick the ball in the back of the net.
While there were a few positives in the performance, the result means Serbia have now claimed one win from their last seven matches across all competitions. Dragan Stojkovic’s men have also struggled defensively, keeping just two clean sheets in their last 19 matches.
How the bookies view it: Eyes on Serbia
Serbia have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a win priced at 5/6 by Betfred. A victory for Slovenia is valued at 100/30 while a draw is set at odds of 13/5.
Recent head to head: Serbia in front
Serbia are unbeaten in the last two meetings with Slovenia as both teams met during the 2022 UEFA Nations League. The Serbians claimed a 4-1 victory at home before playing out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture.
Last five h2h duels:
- 12/06/2022 (UEFA Nations League) – Slovenia 2-2 Serbia
- 09/06/2022 (UEFA Nations League) – Serbia 4-1 Slovenia
- 11/10/2011 (EURO Qualifiers) – Slovenia 1-0 Serbia
- 07/09/2010 (EURO Qualifiers) – Serbia 1-1 Slovenia
- 18/08/2004 (International Friendly) – Slovenia 1-1 Serbia
Players to watch: Mitrovic to come good
Euro 2024 is considered Benjamin Sesko’s breakout tournament and he looked lively in the opening game. The forward was on target in the last meeting with Serbia and is priced at 5/2 to find the net.
Aleksandar Mitrovic had a quiet outing on the opening day but remains the biggest goal threat for Serbia and will be the one to watch. The striker has scored in the last two matches against Slovenia and is priced at 6/4 by Betfred to score anytime.
Probable line-ups
Slovenia’s starting line-up in the opening fixture showed plenty of promise and the manager might retain the same players on Thursday.
Serbia might make a few changes to their team with Dusan Tadic and Filip Mladenovic likely to be handed starts after impressing off the bench in the opening fixture.
Slovenia: Oblak, Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Janza, Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Sporar, Sesko, Mlakar
Serbia: Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Veljkovic, Pavlovic, Zivkovic, Lukic, Milenkovic-Savic, Tadic, Mladenovic, Vlahovic, Mitrovic
Anything else catch the eye?
The last two meetings between Slovenia and Serbia have produced over 3.5 goals, which is priced at 5/2 by Betfred. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 10/11 by Betfred, who is also offering 5/6 on both teams to score.
Both teams took a while to find their rhythm in their opening fixtures, so the second half could be tipped to produce the most goals at 11/10 by Betfred.
This Euro 2024 match between Slovenia and Serbia will be played on Jun 20, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Slovenia vs Serbia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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