Portugal vs Slovenia Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

For this game, we are expecting Portugal to record a professional win over a defensively resilient Slovenia team.

Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to register a single goal in this tournament, although we predict that he will break his duck in the round of 16. Ronaldo has had five shots on target throughout this European Championships and yet has failed to score. The Al-Nassr forward won the Golden Boot at the previous European Championships.

Erik Janza is one to keep an eye on in terms of ill-discipline. The Slovenian international has two yellow cards to his name in this tournament. Portugal have been proficient in the attacking areas during this tournament, having scored five goals in three group games.

Portugal’s attacking options should be enough to see them overcome Slovenia in a 2-0 win for Roberto Martinez’s side.

Portugal 2-0 Slovenia

The round of 16 in the European Championships takes centre stage this weekend as the competition is now fully in the knockout format. Portugal takes on Slovenia, as their side of the draw promises to bring up some intriguing games as the tournament progresses.

Date: 01/07/2024

Kick-Off Time: 20:00

Location: Deutsche Bank Park

The clash between Portugal and Slovenia places the winners of Group F against the third-place team in Group C. Portugal were group winners, where their group opponents consisted of Georgia, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Slovenia finished third respectively in a group consisting of Denmark, England and Serbia. The winner of this tie will face the winner of France/Belgium. A potential tie against the likes of Spain/Germany could be in the future sights of either team.

Portugal began their campaign with an unconvincing 2-1 win over the Czech Republic as the winner was found late through Francisco Conceição in injury time. Roberto Martinez’s side recovered well to secure qualification in the next game thanks to a 3-0 win over Turkey. Bruno Fernandes was the key to their performance, as the Manchester United midfielder had 55 touches and scored the third goal for Portugal. The final game against Georgia did raise a few questions as they were beaten 2-0 by the minnows. Portugal did rest key players as part of rotation before the knockout phases.

Slovenia are one of the few teams in the competition, that are still unbeaten respectively. Slovenia began their campaign with two consecutive 1-1 draws against Denmark and Serbia respectively. In their final group game against England, Slovenia battled brilliantly to secure a 0-0 draw to remain unbeaten and be one the best third-placed teams in the competition.

The two sides have only met once in their entire history and that was earlier this year. Slovenia were 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Adam Gnedza Cerin and Timi Max Elsnik.

The game will be shown live on BBC One.

Portugal Team News

Portugal was heavily rotated in their game against Georgia. Expect the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva to return to the national side.

Slovenia Team News

Slovenia’s defensive resilience is echoed in their 4-4-2 formation which relies on compactivity and disciplined shape.

Portugal’s form in general is relatively good, all things considered. In their last five games, Portugal have won three and only lost twice. Portugal hasn’t recorded a draw since the UEFA Nations League meeting with Spain in 2022. Interestingly, two out of the last three victories for Portugal have resulted in a 3-0 win for Roberto Martinez’s side.

Portugal were unbelievable during qualifying for this tournament, having remained unbeaten following ten victories from ten games. Portugal scored 36 goals in qualifying, only conceding twice. During this period, Portugal spent an entire year unbeaten until they were eventually defeated by Slovenia in March.

Portugal have been frequent scorers in their last five games, having scored nine averaging 1.8 goals per game. Defensively they’ve averaged only five goals in five games, however, they’ve only kept two clean sheets in their last five games. In their most recent win against Turkey, they created 1.86xG, as well as three big chances in which they scored all three.

Slovenia on the other hand, are in brilliant form heading into this game against Portugal. In their three group games, they’ve only conceded two goals despite only scoring two. In their last five games, they are unbeaten having won once and drawing four of the five games played. Interestingly, Slovenia are also on a nine-match unbeaten run, having last suffered a defeat against Denmark in qualifying.

The running theme alongside their recent results is that Slovenia, are generally a difficult team to break down. The last time they were beaten by a scoreline of three goals, or more was in 2022, when they lost 4-1 to Serbia. Three of their last four results have ended in a 1-1 draw, whilst they’ve only kept one clean sheet and that was against England. The last victory for Slovenia was a 2-1 win over Armenia.

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