Kosovo vs Slovenia prediction: EUROPE: World Cup – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-10-09 18:45.
[p]The third matchday in FIFA World Cup qualifying (WCQ) UEFA Group B pits Kosovo and Slovenia against each other in what should prove to be an intriguing clash. [/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Having only played two fixtures up to this point in Group B in their quest to reach the World Cup for the very first time, Kosovo have won one game and lost one so far, a steady start considering that they are comfortably the lowest-ranked nation in their group as measured by FIFA (#91). They will now be looking to claim back-to-back WCQ wins for the first time ever after defeating Sweden 2-0 last month, though having lost 15 of their 20 WCQ encounters overall (W2, D3), further success is far from guaranteed. [/p]
[p]The early going in Group B has been even tougher on visiting Slovenia, as a 3-0 away defeat against Switzerland in their last outing has contributed to a return of just one point from their opening two matches. Unlike Kosovo, Slovenia have previously reached the showpiece finals in both 2002 and 2010, but will need to seriously improve on their recent form of claiming only one win in their last nine WCQs on the road (D1, L7) in order to pick up a valuable three-point haul in Pristina. [/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]These two countries have met just twice before in competitive action, with Slovenia claiming two victories from their UEFA Nations League H2Hs in 2020. [/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Kosovo have scored at least twice in five of their last six internationals (16 in total). [/p]
[p]The last six goals in Kosovo’s matches have all been scored between the 20th and 45th minutes.[/p]
[p]Six of Slovenia’s last seven games have been decided by a one-goal margin at most. [/p]
[p]Slovenia have won 12 of their last 13 internationals (D1) against sides ranked 90th or lower by FIFA when the fixture was played. [/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Vedat Muriqi has scored four goals in his last three encounters for Kosovo, including one in that game against Sweden, while he has also scored four times in his last six matches for Mallorca in La Liga. Žan Vipotnik has netted seven times for club or country in his last 11 outings, equalising in the 90th minute against Sweden during the last international break. [/p]
[p]Kosovo are without a few players due to injury, including key centre-back Amir Rrahmani after he came off against Switzerland last month, while Jan Mlakar is unavailable for Slovenia. [/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]With six victories in their last six games on home soil, and given their scoring rate recently, backing Kosovo to win here is tempting.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Nathan Evans[/i][/p]