Euro 2016: Wales vs Slovakia preview

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June 10th, 2016
Back Euro 2016: Wales vs Slovakia preview

Wales and Slovakia kick off Group B proceedings at Euro 2016 as they clash on Saturday, a few hours before England face Russia in the same group. This is the first ever presence at an European Championship for Wales. The two teams have not met in a direct clash since 2007, when Wales secured a solid 5-2 victory. That victory had the sweet taste of revenge as Slovakia beat Wales 5-1 a year earlier. Those two were the only meetings between the two sides, most likely the third won't have as many goals scored.

Joe Ledley, Joe Allen and Hal Robson-Kanu are all in doubt for the match, but Wales coach Chris Coleman is hoping to have at least Joe Allen fit to play. The last warm-up friendly was a cold shower for Coleman's men as they were defeated 3-0 by Sweden. Wales have not won any of their last four matches, losing three of them. Their last victory was in October 2015 when they defeated minnows Andorra 2-0.

Slovakia are full of confidence after a shocking 3-1 friendly victory against Germany at the end of May. That result was followed by a goalless draw against Northern Ireland, but that somewhat disappointing result extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches. Tomas Hubocan and Norbert Gyomber are injured and will most likely miss out.

Probable line-ups:

Wales: Hennesey - Chester, Williams, Davies - Gunter, Ramsey, Allen, King, Taylor - Bale - Vokes

Slovakia: Kozacik - Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Svento - Kucka, Pecovsky - Mak, Hamsik, Weiss - Nemec

My prediction: 2-2 draw.

Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:

Wales win - 2.88 Draw - 3.00 Slovakia win - 2.88

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