Slovakia-Liechtenstein is a match valid for the sixth day of Euro 2024 qualifying Group J and is played Monday at 8:45 p.m.: predictions.
Slovakia is coming off its first defeat in about a year, ending a seven-match unbeaten streak.
The defeat, however, was almost painless because it was largely predictable, given that Portugal, the absolute ruler of Group J, was on the scene in Bratislava. The men led by Italian Francesco Calzona, Maurizio Sarri’s former collaborator in his Napoli days, in any case performed well, losing by just one goal (0-1) to the group’s overwhelming powerhouse. Hamsik and co. despite the setback with the Lusitanians, the first after three straight wins, remain the favorites for second place. The bogeyman at the moment is called Luxembourg, the big surprise of this grouping. As it turns out, Slovakia will have to deal precisely with the small selection of the Grand Duchy, which in the last two games has won over Bosnia and Iceland. The Luxembourg national team after five days has the same points as the Slovaks, 10. Beating cinderella Liechtenstein, the only selection still at zero, becomes crucial to continue chasing the qualification dream and going to the European Championship for the third consecutive time.
Liechtenstein hasn’t managed to avoid defeat for exactly two years, when it drew with Armenia in the match qualifying for the Qatari World Cup.
Funfstuck
Since then only and exclusively defeats, even in friendly matches. To trace the last success in an official Nati match one has to go all the way back to September 2020: the three points came against San Marino in a Nations League match. Since June, Liechtenstein has had a new selector, German Konrad Funfstuck: he has not yet managed to turn things around, but last Friday, at home to Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia, his men returned to scoring after more than a year (2-1).
The prediction
Everything points to a comfortable victory for Slovakia, which under new technical leadership plays more offensive soccer than in the past. The total goals, in the Bratislava match, should be more than two.
The probable lineups of Slovakia-Liechtenstein
- SLOVAKIA (4-3-3): Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Suslov, Bozenik, Haraslin.
- LIECHTENSTEIN (5-3-2): Buchel; Wolfinger, Beck, Traber, Malin, Goppel; Luchinger, Wieser, Sele; Salanovic, Saglam.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-0
