Portugal will hope to recover from a shock 2-0 loss against Georgia to get their Euro 2024 hopes back on track with a win against Slovenia on Monday.
Roberto Martinez’s men reached the knockout stage after finishing top of Group F, while Slovenia qualified after finishing as one of the best third-placed nations.
Portugal current form
Portugal were impressive enough in their opening two matches of the group stage as they defeated Czechia 2-1 before putting three past Turkey in a 3-0 victory.
Martinez made a raft of changes to his starting XI for the final game against Georgia, and it backfired as they lost 2-0, with Georgia more than worthy of the three points.
Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to find the back of the net, but his assist for Bruno Fernandes in the Turkey victory saw him become the most prolific assist-maker in the history of the European Championships.
Slovenia current form
Slovenia didn’t earn themselves many neutral fans in the group stage as they progressed to the knockouts after drawing all three games versus England, Denmark and Serbia.
So far, they have scored two goals and conceded two goals.
Martinez made eight changes for the Georgia game, with only Ronaldo, Joao Palhinha and Diogo Costa keeping their places in the team.
That means we’ll see a number of high-profile names return, like Fernandes, Vitinha, Pepe, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes and Bernardo Silva.
Rafael Leao is available for selection again after being suspended against Georgia. He collected two yellow cards in the first two games for diving.
Don’t expect much experimentation from Slovenia boss Matjaz Kek, who will field his team in a rigid 4-4-2 formation.
Forwards Benjamin Sesko and Andraz Sporar have had 12 shots between them so far in the tournament, but haven’t converted any of them into a goal.
Scoreline Prediction
Slovenia have proved to be a tough nut to crack so far, but with Portugal’s big guns mostly rested and returning, Martinez’s side will have too much for their opponents.
Portugal 2-0…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/news/portugal-vs-slovenia-euro-2024-round-of-16-prediction-team-to-win-form-news-and-more/5225
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-01 06:00:00
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