By Ian S Palmer
Switzerland and Slovenia are battling it out for the second Group E automatic qualifying spot for next year’s Euro 2016 tournament in France. The two teams will meet face to face at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland on Saturday, September 5th to see who will likely join England at the tournament. England leads the group with 18 points after six games and can clinch a berth at the event if they beat last place San Marino on Saturday.
Switzerland vs Slovenia Euro 2016 Qualifier Betting Preview
BETTING LINE:
- bet365 lists Switzerland as the current favorites at 1/2 with Slovenia 7/1 and a draw at 16/5
HEAD TO HEAD:
- This is a huge match for both teams as neither of them wants to end up in third place in the group and have to enter a playoff round to reach Euro 2016. The two countries squared off back in November with Milivoje Novakovic scoring the only goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 19th minute to give Slovenia 1 -0 win at home. They’ve met eight times in the past with Switzerland winning five times, losing a pair and drawing one. They’ve won three and lost once at home. The teams have met a few times recently as they were also paired in the same group during the qualifying stages for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Switzerland won both of those encounters by shutouts with 2-0 and 1-0 triumphs.
Swiss midfielder Xhaka goes into this game just one yellow card away from receiving a one-game ban and will need to play accordingly. Switzerland has lost just twice in their past 16 qualifiers at home in World Cup/ Euro events. Both defeats came at the hands of England who shut them out 2-0 in 2014 and beat them 3-1 four years earlier. Switzerland has also won 11 and drawn three in that 16-game stretch. They dropped their first two Group E contests to England and Slovenia, but have since reeled off four straight wins. Slovenia can’t be accused of being fence sitters since they either win or lose their qualifying games. They’ve won and lost three times each with no draws.
Switzerland can open a six-point gap between themselves and Slovenia with a win here and a loss would see the two teams level. It’s a pressure-packed scenario which could see things remain the same with a draw. If this is the case, Slovenia will be hoping that Estonia and Lithuania also play to a stalemate when they meet the same day.