Slovenia vs. Kosovo: Can Oblak Inspire His Side to Another Victory?

Slovenia will aim to maintain their impressive winning streak when they take on Kosovo in Ljubljana at the weekend.

Matjaž Kek’s men beat Kosovo 1-0 on the road last month, courtesy of a first-half strike from Zaragoza forward Haris Vučkić. They followed it up with a 4-0 win away at Moldova three days later, extending their winning run to four matches.

Slovenia are unbeaten in 2020 and they sit top of Group C3 in the Nations League, with three wins and a draw from four matches, so they will be surging with momentum.

Poor Form

It has been a difficult year for Kosovo. They opened their Nations League with a 1-1 draw against Moldova, and then lost 2-1 to Greece.

Kosovo were then knocked out of qualifying for the European Championship when they suffered a 2-1 defeat to North Macedonia. They were still in the doldrums when they lost 1-0 at home to Slovenia.

They did pick up a creditable 0-0 draw away at Greece in their last game, but it was slightly soured by a late red card for forward Benjamin Kololli.

The Immoveable Object

Kosovo will certainly make life difficult for Slovenia on Sunday, but the hosts should be able to edge this one.

Their star man is Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, widely regarded as the finest goalkeeper in world football, and he has led them to five consecutive clean sheets.

You would therefore expect this to be a pretty low scoring game, but Vučkić and strike partner Sandi Lovric have been in excellent form lately, and they have the quality to clinch three points for Slovenia.

FIFA now has Slovenia at number 62 in the world rankings, and they will be keen to break back into the top 50. Kosovo are down to number 117 after a poor run of results.

A gulf in class is opening up between the two teams, and Slovenia really should win this match.

Tip: Slovenia to win

Stake: One unit