Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Slovakia will look to recover from a 2-1 loss to Sweden when they face Estonia at home in their last group game. Francesco Calzona’s men have already clinched second place in the standings, but they surely want to finish the process in style. Both Martin Dubravka and Milan Skriniar are banned for the match, while defender Denis Vavro limped off with injury in the Strawberry Arena defeat. Cagliari man Adam Obert is widely expected to replace Vavro in the starting XI.
The Estonians, on the other hand, have been struggling in front of goal in the Nations League, with the team failing to find the net in four of their five group games. As Slovakia are a real force to be reckoned with at home, we do not believe that the underdogs are capable of grabbing something from Tuesday’s encounter. Experienced forward Henri Anier serves a one-game ban for the visiting team.
Highlighted Team (Slovakia):
Slovakia only appeared on the international stage in 1993 as Czechoslovakia fell apart, and the new national team have yet to record a result worth mention. Repre have only qualified for two major tournaments so far, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2016, but the current generation definitely seem capable of improving the team’s profile in years to come.
Slovakia currently have quite a few players plying their trade in some of Europe’s top sides, with Marek Hamsik, Martin Skrtel and Juraj Kucka clearly the leaders of the national team at the moment, but they do struggle in some areas and are not exactly world beaters just yet. Under Vladimir Weiss and Jan Kozak, Slovakia have become a tough not to crack, relying on rock-solid back line and swift counter-attacks, and they even gave Spain a tough time during the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Miroslav Karhan and Robert Vittek are the most capped player and top goalscorer respectively, with Robert Vittek another player worth the mention.