The Group E table is about as tight as it could be, with every team sitting on three points, which is something of a surprise to us as we thought Belgium would easily finish on top.
In this match, both Slovakia and Romania have performed far better than was initially expected so this match should be an absolute cracker.
We have looked long and hard at the matches that have already been played and it’s proven difficult to split these teams, but we believe we have found an angle that could be profitable.
Odds and Predictions
It’s not often that you come across a football match where the odds for the draw are nearly even money, but that is the case here, which just goes to show that the bookies are having trouble separating these teams.
The odds for the draw is 2.10, a Slovakia win is priced at 3.20 and the odds for Romania to win is 3.60.
We would usually follow the odds and go with the draw, but using both teams’ performances against Belgium as a benchmark, our predictions for this game are going to start with a win for Slovakia.
We are happy with the odds of 3.20 and as for the scoreline, 2 – 1 at odds of 13.0 looks very generous to us.
For the last of our tips, we are looking at the ‘To score at any time market’ and, in particular, Ivan Schranz, who has scored in both of Slovenia’s two matches so far in the competition.
We are very happy with those odds of 5.0, but always remember to tick the ‘void if player does not start’ box, just in case.
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings between the Teams
Slovakia and Romania have faced each other head-to-head a total of eleven times.
Slovakia have won one match, Romania have won five matches, and five matches have ended in a draw.
The last five H2H meetings between the two teams are listed below.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 2013 | romania | 1-1 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 09 Feb 2005 | romania | 2-2 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 12 Feb 2003 | romania | 2-1 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 25 Apr 2001 | romania | 0-0 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 04 Sep 1999 | slovakia | 1-5 | romania | UEFA European Championship |
Expected Line Ups
Remarkably, the manager of Slovakia, Francesco Calzona, has also been managing Serie A club Napoli, so he is doing his CV no harm at all with Slovakia’s impressive run in this competition.
The Romanian manager, Edward Iordănescu, has also impressed, they have both made people sit up and take notice of how they have set up their teams to face very well-respected opponents.
Slovakia (4-3-3): Martin Dúbravka; Peter Pekarík, Milan Škriniar, Ľubomír Šatka, David Hancko; Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka, Ondrej Duda; Lukáš Haraslín, Róbert Boženík, Tomáš Suslov.
Romania (4-2-3-1): Florin Niță; Andrei Rațiu, Radu Drăgușin, Adrian Rus, Nicușor Bancu; Răzvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu; Dennis Man, Ianis Hagi, Alexandru Cicâldău; George Pușcaș.
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
If our predictions are correct, Slovakia will progress to the round of 16 from Group E, along with Belgium.
We also believe that there will be a best-placed runner-up coming out of this group and that will probably be Romania.
When it comes to the round of 16, we think that both of these teams will be eliminated at that stage.
