Slovakia host struggling Liechtenstein on Monday, in a tie that the hosts will be looking to dominate from the first whistle to the last. When the two nations met previously, Slovakia won 1-0, a rather disappointing score line for this weeks hosts.
Slovakia
Slovakia are in 2nd place on 10 points in Group J after winning three games, drawing and losing once. When Francesco Calzona’s side play, goals shouldn’t be expected for either team, as they average 1.4 overall goals per game which means that most matches are tightly contested with fine margins determining the outcome. We saw this in their most recent game versus Portugal, where a Bruno Fernandes goal gave the visitors a 1-0 victory.
Slovakia have three elite players in their squad that genuinely can win their nation games on their own. Milan Skriniar, David Hancko and Stanislav Lobotka are those key individuals and they lay the foundations for their country to succeed. However, as the former two are defenders and the latter is a more defensive midfielder, they often don’t have an impact on attacking scenarios, which is Slovakia’s downfall.
Liechtenstein
According to the FIFA rankings, Liechtenstein are ranked 200th out of 208 countries, which just provides context to their chances on Monday. They’ve lost every game so far and their only competitive win in the last three years came against San Marino (Ranked 208th).
However, since the 7-0 loss to Iceland in March, they have shown signs of improvement, losing by just one goal in the last two matches and scoring their first goal in five games. Away from home versus a hungry Slovakia side will be a huge test and I’m not so convinced they have the answers.
Verdict?
Slovakia will win this game comfortably and with them looking to increase their goal difference, they should be extremely motivated. Liechtenstein could put up a fight but if they concede early, this game only goes one way.
The final prediction is Slovakia 4-0 Liechtenstein.
