Euro 2016 Qualifier preview and odds: Slovakia vs. Belarus

Published on: 08/10/2015

Euro 2016 Qualifier preview and odds: Slovakia vs. Belarus

October 9, 2015 19:45pm tadión MK ilina

Euro 2016 Group C

Slovakia could make history on Friday night by qualifying for their first ever European Championship tournament. A home win against Belarus would be enough to secure automatic qualification ahead of third-place Ukraine.

Slovakia set to join the Euro party

With a play-off place already guaranteed, Slovakia are now in a great position to achieve an automatic qualification spot for Euro 2016.

As long as they can finish level on points or better than Ukraine they will progress to the finals thanks to their superior record in head-to-head games against their rival. They could even progress with a draw or defeat if the Ukraine team fails to better their result.

Slovakia were dominating Group C until they faced Spain and Ukraine back in September. After failing to score a goal and picking up just one point in those two games, they relinquished their lead in the group.

Belarus keen to avoid rankings slip

Opponents Belarus can no longer qualify for next summers tournament and have little left to play for in Group C. However, they will be keen to confirm a fourth-place finish and avoid dropping out of the FIFA Top 100 rankings.

The teams last met in Borisov back in October when a Marek Hamík double helped to condemn Belarus to a 3-1 defeat. That game was the first ever competitive encounter between the sides.

Team news

Slovakia will be without Norbert Gyömber who is suspended for this game. Meanwhile, Belarus will welcome back Aleksandr Martynovich who missed the last game after serving a ban.

Recent form (Euro Qualifying)

Slovakia: DLWWW

Belarus: WLLWL

Betting odds and tips

Belarus do not travel well and have only won one game on the road in their last 12 competitive matches. That triumph came against FYR Macedonia in the current qualifying campaign.

Slovakia have home advantage on their side and will be lured by the carrot of automatic qualification for next year`s Euros. Meanwhile, their opponents have no such prize to motivate them and may struggle to get fired up for this game. The home win is available at a decent price of 3/5 with Betfred.

Hamík scored twice in the last meeting and can be backed at 9/2 to score the first goal of the game with Bet365.

Published on: 08/10/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (08/10/2015 11:28:12) but are subject to change.