Slovenia vs Portugal prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2024-03-25 19:45.
[p]Slovenia may well be excitedly looking forward to their first UEFA European Championship finals in 24 years, but they began this March international break in less-than-ideal fashion, drawing 2-2 with Malta – who sit 117 places below them in the FIFA world rankings. And as they return to Ljubljana to face Portugal, Matjaž Kek’s men will be looking to make amends for that result by at least putting in a strong performance against a side firmly in contention to lift this summer’s trophy in Germany. [/p]
[p]Perhaps surprisingly, this match will be the first H2H between these two nations, and Slovenia ought to be confident of marking the landmark day in style given they’re unbeaten in their last eight home games (W6, D2). If they are to claim a sensational victory here, it will be the first time they have won four straight home encounters since October 2014![/p]
[p]After swatting aside Sweden 5-2 last Thursday, Portugal opted to send a large chunk of the squad back to their clubs in the interests of injury prevention, meaning that a much-changed line-up will be fielded here. Head coach Roberto Martínez will no doubt be extremely hungry to keep his 100% record in charge of the Iberians (W11) intact, and with Portugal having scored an eye-watering 26 goals in their last six matches, they look well-placed to do so in style. [/p]
[p]The Portuguese have also been defensively strong of late and arrive in Slovenia having kept clean sheets in each of their last six away outings (W6). However, none of those games came against a nation ranked higher than #40 in the world, which does raise some doubts over their credentials against higher ranked opposition. But in the immediacy, facing #55 ranked Slovenia seems a perfect chance to extend their national record of 11 successive victories. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: The hugely exciting Benjamin Šeško has scored in both of his last two internationals, while his last four goals for club and country have been netted after half-time. Cristiano Ronaldo knows a thing or two about goalscoring, and four of his last six scoring appearances have seen his club side Al-Nassr win by a single goal. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Portugal have been at least 2-0 up at some point in each of their last six internationals. [/p]