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Sports Mole previews Monday’s Nations League clash between Kazakhstan and Slovakia, including predictions, team news and possible line-ups.
Kazakhstan and Slovakia in Group C3 of Monday’s UEFA Nations League, just a point apart between the two sides.
The nations meet for the second time in a week after Kazakhstan decided the first game by a single goal.
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©Reuters
When this group was drawn the perception was that Slovakia were the clear favorites to progress and that may yet prove to be the case.
However, Kazakhstan has the cards in hand for this competition, Magomed Adiev began his tenure as head coach with two wins and a draw.
That would have been three wins in a row if Belarus hadn’t scored a late equalizer and equalized an early one on Friday Abat Aimbetov Effort.
Aymbetov has scored three of the team’s four goals in this group, but the defense deserve as much credit as the attackers after suffering a strong response, conceding eight goals, against France on 13 November.
Only three goals have been scored in six games since that defeat, a statistic that underscores the magnitude of the task Slovakia faces.
To its credit, Slovakia have lost just two of their last eight games in all competitions and have gone four away without conceding a goal in that stint.
Stefan TarkovicThe team from has also won the last three games on their travels, but the 0-1 home defeat against their next opponent threatens to be the decisive factor for promotion.
national team strong Vladimir Weiss scored the only goal of the game in Azerbaijan on Friday, his first international goal in exactly five years.
Each of Slovakia’s last three games has ended in a 1-0 result, either for or against them, and everything indicates that this will be a low-goal encounter.
Form of the Kazakh Nations League:
Kazakhstan form (all competitions):
Form of the Slovakia Nations League:
Slovakia form (all competitions):
Team News
©Reuters
Kazakhstan will have to do without a captain Islambek Kuat and Ramazan Orazov by suspension or injury.
Samat Zharynbetov and Bauyrzhan Baytana can take their respective places in defensive and attacking midfield.
Weiss received a yellow-red card of the tournament in the last game and will not play here.
However, the playmaker first had to come on from the substitutes’ bench, creating the possibility of an unchanged Tarkovic side being called up.
Ondrej Duda can be drafted into midfield or a creative role if Tarkovic decides to introduce some fresh legs, however Milan Skriniar will probably miss again due to injury.
Kazakhstan possible starting line-up:
Schatsky; Marochkin, Alip, Maliy; Kairov, Darabaev, Zharynbetov, Vorogovskiy; Baytana, Astanov; Aimbetov
Slovakia possible starting line-up:
Rodak; Pekarik, Valjent, Satka, DeMarco; Suslov, Lobotka, Hrosovsky, Haraslin; Strelec, Russak
We say: Kazakhstan – Slovakia 1:1
With Kazakhstan’s games remaining, the onus is on Slovakia to pick up all three points. However, we cannot ignore the form of the home side and a surprise draw last time out will only motivate them to come through on Monday.
For a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.
top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com predict under 3.5 goals in this game. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their tried and true football tips.Under 3.5:Data