San Marino vs Slovenia prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-09-09 18:45.
It was the same old story for San Marino on Thursday as they were swept aside again, this time in a 4-0 defeat in Denmark, meaning La Serenissima have now conceded 18 goals without reply in their last six fixtures (L6). Perhaps the one crumb of comfort for manager Fabrizio Constantini is that his side didn’t concede in the second half until the 93rd minute, although that seemed to be down as much to Danish wastefulness as visiting resilience.
It is perhaps then no surprise to learn that San Marino have a poor record against upcoming opponents Slovenia, losing all six H2Hs by a 22-0 aggregate score. The two latest goals in that sequence occurred in the reverse fixture of this 2024 UEFA European Championship qualifying (ECQ) campaign, although that match contained the only half of football so far this year when the microstate kept a clean sheet.
Replicating that will be no mean feat, with Slovenia in contention to qualify for just their second Euros as an independent nation, currently level on 10 points with second-placed Denmark in Group I after a rousing 4-2 win over Northern Ireland. Since Matjaž Kek took charge in 2018 though, the team have found the going significantly tougher on the road than at home in ECQs – with an away record of W2, D1, L4 compared to W5, D2, L1 at home.
Aside from those specific group matches however, Slovenia have secured impressive draws on their travels against Greece, Croatia, Norway and Sweden under Kek. They are also formidable once they have scored the first goal in a match, having avoided defeat in their last 23 such internationals (W17, D6).
Key battle: San Marino goalkeeper Elia Benedettini has picked the ball out of the back of his net 10 times in the last two fixtures, but the 28-year-old will be hoping that he can keep Slovenia at bay until at least the 56th minute, when the hosts bagged the opener in March. Benjamin Šeško was the scorer on that occasion and was instrumental on Thursday against Northern Ireland, scoring once and assisting twice.
Hot stat: Slovenia have scored in 12 of their 15 ECQs during Matjaž Kek’s current tenure.