Slovakia VS England Match Prediction

England and Slovakia have met four times in their respective histories, with each meeting coming since 2001. It is the visitors here that have dominated with three wins and a draw, although their last meeting – which came at Euro 2016 – resulted in a goalless stalemate.

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Slovakia vs England: Prediction

The onus will be on England here to impress under Sam Allardyce, and he will benefit from having a fit and hungry squad to choose from. The Three Lions have a healthy record in away matches, and remember they won all five of their away qualifiers for Euro 2016. This squad finds a way to win on their travels.

Slovakia were less convincing at home with three wins from five, but lest we forget they did beat Spain in their own Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. A defeat to Belarus was not in the offing, however.

We have a handy guide here as these two sides met just a matter of weeks ago in the Euro 2016 group stage, and while the end result was 0-0 we can read between the lines and suggest that England really should have won. Former coach Roy Hodgson made six changes to his team, and that lack of fluency proved costly: his side fired some 29 shots at the Slovakian goal but simply could not break them down. Don’t expect Big Sam’s men to be so forgiving this time around.

Slovakia vs England Betting Tips

England look excellent value at odds-against (21/20), and we can be confident in them to get the job done given how they dominated the Slovaks at the European Championships.

The Three Lions have a habit of keeping clean sheets in qualification matches – they only conceded in two of ten in the quest for Euro 2016 – while Slovakia aren’t known on the international stage for their free-scoring approach. Consequently, Both Teams to Score (No) at 31/40 and Under 2.5 Goals (4/7) look the smartest plays.

With such prevailing logic, we can deduce that the correct scoreline is likely to be 1-0 or 2-0 to England. These are available at 5/1 and 8/1 respectively.

Slovakia coach Jan Kozak will look to build on the positivity his side took from Euro 2016; there they managed to get through the group stage before running into a rampant Germany in the last 16. He has made some changes to his squad, but has largely stuck to the same personal that impressed in France.

Slovakia likely XI:

A new dawn for England begins here with Sam Allardyce first competitive match as manager. He’ll be looking to get his World Cup ’18 qualifying campaign off to the best possible start, and will be buoyed by the news that he has a full squad to call upon. Chris Smalling may lose his place – he isn’t featuring at Manchester United, while Danny Rose and Luke Shaw will fight it out for the left back slot. Debutant Michail Antonio will have to settle for a place on the bench.

England likely XI:

When a new manager comes along there is often a period of optimism and expectancy, and in all honesty Big Sam Allardyce could have hoped for an easier opening game as England manager than this. Slovakia have some first-class talent in Jan Kucka and Marek Hamsik, and on their day they are capable of making life difficult for anyone. But as we saw at Euro 2016 when England played them off the park and Germany gave them a 3-0 masterclass, the Slovakians are vulnerable, and so England – if professional about their work and well drilled – should run out as winners in a low-scoring affair.

The key stats for this match came on June 20 this year, when England\'s second string took on full-strength Slovakia. With 61% possession, 29 shots on goal, 5 shots on target and 11 corners, the Three Lions dominated proceedings; and they will be looking to do likewise once again.