Slovakia Euro 2024 squad, predicted line-up versus England, latest odds and star players
ENGLAND face Slovakia in Sunday’s crunch last -16 tie, but they should be far from unknown quantities.
They finished third in Group E behind Romania and Belgium and boast a decent spread of high-profile names in the squad.
This will be the seventh meeting between England and Slovakia in total.
And the Three Lions have enjoyed the best of it so far and are unbeaten.
They have won five of the six games, with the only blip being a 0-0 draw in their final group match of Euro 2016.
This will be the first meeting between the two for seven years.
The Three Lions then beat Slovakia twice in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup – 1-0 away from home and 2-1 at Wembley.
Captain Milan Skriniar joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain last summer but does not always feature for the Qatari-owned club.
At least keeper Martin Dubravka will go to Germany with plenty of game time behind him having filled in between the posts for injured Nick Pope.
Fellow keeper Marek Rodak is with Fulham but is mainly limited to cup games at Craven Cottage.
This will be their third successive Euro finals and in France 2016 they advanced to the knockout stage where they were beaten by Germany.
Manager: Francesco Calzona
Has spent the last four months combining his role as Slovakia chief with the manager’s job at Napoli.
Key man: Martin Dubravka
Dubravka travels to Germany with plenty of practice behind him.
Newcastle’s first-choice keeper Pope suffering a dislocated shoulder is at least good news for Slovakia’s man.
Likely line-up
Slovakia’s defence is marshalled by the vastly experienced Skriniar.
Along with Dubravka and midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, they have a strong spine from which to build around.
Lukas Haraslin is a threat from the wing and Ivan Shranz on the opposite flank has a decent goalscoring record for Sparta Prague.
Striker Robert Bozenik was linked with Brentford a few years ago and is a solid technician leading the line.
How they attack
It is no mean feat for a country like Slovakia to have qualified for three Euros finals tournaments in a row.
But they are likely to find it difficult to get out of the group stages again this time around.
As with many other teams in this tournament, we believe that Slovakia are likely to line up in a 4-3-3 system and although they have real quality in some positions, they are lacking depth in others.
They will look for opportunities to play forward relatively quickly.
As they move the ball into advanced positions the fact that they are not looking to retain possession of the ball will see Slovakia be more direct in passing into space to have runners attack.
As Slovakia move the ball into the wide areas they will look to generate opportunities through crosses into the area.
When they have the ball wide we will typically see them push players forward to try to attack the penalty area and look to overload the opposition defensive line.
How they defend
When they are in the defensive phase of the game, Slovakia do not typically look to press aggressively or engage the ball in the higher positions.
Instead they will drop off to form more of a medium defensive block ahead of the ball.
The big issue that Slovakia have out of possession is that they can often leave spaces for the opposition to take advantage of between the lines.
While they are not overly aggressive in terms of pressing high they are also not compact and well structured with their defensive shape.
This is something that the opposition can take advantage of.
Often we see the Slovakians struggle with the opposition play quickly to release players who are making forward runs from deeper areas.
With no pressure on the ball and no compact defensive structure these moments can be dangerous for Slovakia.
Prediction
Slovakia face a last 16 clash with England, so that should bring their run to an end.
Latest odds
With odds of 200/1 on William Hill, Slovakia are rank outsiders to lift the trophy.