On Sunday, Slovakia will play host to Belarus as part of League C Group 3 of the UEFA Nations League. Because the home team cannot win the competition and the away team is already eliminated from playoff contention, this match does not have much significance.
Match Preview: Slovakia vs Belarus
Indeed, Slovakia would have anticipated a swift return as one of the highest-ranked countries in the Nations League’s third division after being demoted from League B last time around. Instead, they’ve been fairly terrible, as they now lie in last place in their group behind Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan with just six points from five matches.
Last month, Francesco Calzona was brought in as a permanent replacement for Stefan Tarkovic in the dugout. However, the Italian’s first game in command ended in a loss, 2-1, to Azerbaijan, dropping them to the third position in League C Group 3.
The Falcons seemed to have salvaged a draw when Erik Jirka scored a penalty deep into stoppage time, but Azerbaijan came back with a thrilling winner from Hojjat Haghverdi in the 95th minute to claim their first competitive road victory in almost two years.
There is a lot of pressure on Calzona to get his first victory against Belarus on Sunday and restore some of the players’ confidence after Slovakia’s stunning drop in standards has made their supporters understandably worried.
As a result of Thursday’s 2-1 loss against Kazakhstan on the road, Belarus was officially relegated to the Nations League’s second-to-bottom division.
While Pavel Savitski’s equalizer in first-half stoppage time gave the visitors hope, Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov’s late goal ensured advancement for his team at the cost of Belarus.
As a consequence, the White Wings will face tougher competition in the upcoming Nations League campaign, taking on the likes of San Marino and Liechtenstein.
However, a chance to build confidence with a string of victories might be just what the country needs to re-establish itself. It remains to be seen whether Georgy Kondratyev will be kept on as the manager to supervise that process, although a win in Slovakia on Sunday would certainly help his case.
Team News: Slovakia vs Belarus
After serving his one-match ban against Azerbaijan, Juraj Kucka will be eligible for selection once again for Slovakia. The midfielder may potentially take Matus Bero’s spot in the engine room if the Slovaks choose to do so.
As a consequence of Ondrej Duda’s ongoing suspension for his red card against Kazakhstan, the offensive midfielder for FC Koln was not selected for the team. This was because Ondrej Duda was cautioned during the match against Kazakhstan.
Martin Valjent might replace Lubomir Satka in the defense after the latter turned in a subpar performance during the team’s shocking loss to Azerbaijan. Milan Skriniar would continue in his role as captain.
Belarus, on the other hand, does not seem to have any problems with injuries or suspensions. After being an unused replacement in the match against Kazakhstan, Ilya Lukashevich will be hoping to make his debut for his country at some point in the future, even though the trip to Slovakia on Sunday does not carry a lot of weight.
- Slovakia Possible Starting Lineup: Rodak, Vallo, Valjent, Skriniar, Hancko, Kucka, Lobotka, Benes, Regali, Bozenik, Jirka.
- Belarus Possible Starting Lineup: Khatkevich, Palyakow, Shvyatsow, Yudenkov, Shevchenko, Klimovich, Yablonski, Ebong, Pyachenin, Bogomolskiy, Savitski.
Our Prediction: Slovakia 2-0 Belarus
We anticipate that Slovakia will achieve its first victory of the Calzona period, but we do not anticipate that it will be a nice victory for them. Belarus is unlikely to go down without a fight, and despite their dismal record as of late, they are seldom defeated by a significant margin.