Slovenia picked up an unlikely point against Denmark to kick off the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Now, the Slovenia’s are looking for more points to improve their chances of reaching the knockout stages.
Will our score prediction forecast a win for Slovenia over Serbia?
SLOVENIJA 👊🇸🇮 pic.twitter.com/irsBz9DrZA— NZS | FA Slovenia (@nzs_si) June 16, 2024
SLOVENIJA 👊🇸🇮 pic.twitter.com/irsBz9DrZA
Serbia weren’t as fortunate in their opening match-up against England. The Serbians fell 1-0 in a hard-fought game. Despite being second-best in the first half, Serbia improved as the match went on and had their chances to score.
Although England received praise for their all-around performance, Serbia only allowed five shots to the tournament’s favourite. Meanwhile, Serbia tallied six shots of their own. Just one of those shots hit the target.
After conceding a 17th-minute goal to Denmark, Slovenia fought back and scored in the 77th minute thanks to Erik Janza. Slovenia only had 32% possession, something that could improve against Serbia. Coach Matjaz Kek watched his team tally 11 shots but just two hit the target.
Slovenia will face England on the final day of the tournament. Kek will be desperate for them to get maximum points against Serbia before the final group game. Serbia, on the other hand, may have a slightly easier game against Denmark.
However, there are no easy games in the Euros for these two teams. England reached the final at the previous tournament, while Denmark were semifinalists.
Serbia are the bookmakers’ favourite going into matchday No. 2 against Slovenia. The favourite’s tag is more about Serbia’s squad and fire-power than their recent head-to-head matches versus Slovenia.
Since 2004, these national teams have met five times in all competitions. The teams drew three of the five matches, while splitting the remaining two games with one win apiece. They last met in the UEFA Nations League in 2022, with the game ending 2-2.
Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic is unlikely to have Juventus winger Filip Kostic available. The creative player limped off the pitch in the first half in tears. Based on his body language when coming off against England, Kostic could miss the rest of the tournament.
Still, Serbia have Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic and former Fulham man Aleksander Mitrovic. Stojkovic has a number of top players at his disposal. The question is, will he get them to fire in match No. 2?
Our algorithm doesn’t think so. It predicts a score of 1-1, with the teams sharing the points in Group C. Progression to the knockout round will come down to the final group game for both squads.