Slovenia vs England
European Qualifiers – 2018 World Cup
Date: Tuesday, 11th October 2016
Kick-off at 19:45 UK
Venue: Stadion Stozice, Ljubljana.
Slovenia
Slovenia have made a decent start in Group F taking 4 points from 2 games played. With group leaders England in town on Tuesday night a win could see the Slovenians leapfrog their counterparts into top spot.
Slovenia edged past Slovakia (1-0) on Saturday and get to play at home once again this week. With no travel and confidence up after a win they will fancy their chances against England.
At home Slovenia are unbeaten in their last 3 qualifiers with England the last team to beat them (2-3). Slovenia have scored in their last 7 at home but only 2/7 has there been a second goal and 1 of those games came against San Marino.
England
England got the result they needed at home to Malta (2-0) on Saturday but didn't play particularly well. Slovenia away on Tuesday will be a tougher game and given the off field issues I think they would take a point now.
England have won their last 6 away qualifiers, 5/6 to nil with the 2-3 win in Slovenia in the Euro qualifying campaign the only game without a shut-out.
It's hard to really judge this team at present, lots of individuals but they don't look a team. Rooney continues to play and doesn't have the fans support, whilst the interim manager may be gone in 3 games time. It's a tough time for England and this potential banana skin in Slovenia is not ideally timed.
Betting Verdict
I think England finds a way to win this game in Slovenia on Tuesday evening. The visitors are always a threat going forward and on the back of 6 straight away wins they should see off the hosts.
Slovenia are tough to beat at home but Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuanian and Ukraine are not at the same level as England. The Three Lions tend to disappoint in the finals but in qualifying they are reliable.
5/6 Slovenia home losses have been by a 1 goal margin and given that's what England won by the last time they visited I will stick with trends.
England to win by a 1 goal margin is a nice price and rather than odds on quotes on the fixed market or the unappealing -0.75 AH line. I will keep faith with the visitors to just edge a really tight game.
Slovenia vs England: Head-to-Head Stats
England have won in each of the four matches played against Slovakia so far. They recently met in the 2016 Euro qualification group phase and the two Three Lions’ win came with a 3-1 margin at home and a 3-2 margin in the away leg.
England also defeated Slovenia when the two sides met at the group stages of the 2010 World Cup tournament in South Africa. This was England’s only win in the tournament and they progressed to the round of 16 and were knocked out by Germany. Slovenia finished third in the group and failed to progress any further.
Slovenia vs England: Prediction
England have created plenty of scoring chances in each of their two games in the tournament. But a combination of poor finishing and bad lucky have prevented them from finding the back of the net more often. This is a reassuring sign and we can expect the flood gates to open against Slovakia, a team that they had beaten in each of the four meetings so far. Moreover, England are a side that have done exceptionally well in the recent qualification tournaments and they must win this quite comfortably.
Slovenia vs England: Betting Tips
Both Teams to Score and England to win at 4.75.
