Two teams that will have their eyes on a top-two finish in Group J will lock horns in a Euro 2024 qualification fixture on Saturday, with Iceland welcoming Slovakia.

Iceland are currently fourth in the section, picking up three points from their opening two matches, while Slovakia are second, boasting four points from their first two games.

Match preview

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Iceland made a disappointing start to their Group J campaign, suffering a 3-0 loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, but they bounced back in excellent fashion three days later by thumping Liechtenstein 7-0.

There has since been a change at the helm, with Age Hareide now in charge of the national side, and the 69-year-old will be bidding to make the perfect start to his time with Our Boys on Saturday.

Iceland have back-to-back home games against Slovakia and Portugal during this break, and these are the type of matches that they will need to pick up points in if a top-two finish is to be a possibility.

The national side famously played at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2016, reaching the quarter-finals of the latter, but they did not manage to secure a position at Euro 2020.

Iceland have not beaten Slovakia since March 2008, although the two teams have only locked horns twice since then, with Slovakia running out 3-1 winners in their last meeting - a friendly in November 2015.

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Portugal are undoubtedly the favourites when it comes to topping Group J, but Slovakia will be expecting to make a strong push for second, which is the position that they occupy at this early stage.

The Falcons opened their qualification campaign with a goalless draw against Luxembourg on March 23, but they did return to winning ways three days later by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0.

Slovakia made the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 before going out in the group stage of Euro 2020, and they are aiming to qualify for the finals of a European Championship for the third time in a row.

The national side were not present at the 2022 World Cup, though, with their last appearance in the finals of that competition coming in 2010, when they reached the round of 16.

Francesco Calzona's side will bring a five-game unbeaten run into this match, with their last competitive defeat proving to be against Azerbaijan in the UEFA Nations League last September.

Team News

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Despite the change of manager, Iceland's XI is expected to be close to the one that took to the field for the first whistle of the 7-0 success against Liechtenstein last time out.

Aaron Gunnarsson scored twice from central defence, and the captain could again line up in that area of the field for this match, while Burnley's Johann Berg Gudmundsson will also be named in the starting side.

There is a lack of genuine centre-forwards in the squad, but one of those will start, with Alfred Finnbogason set to lead the line, and he could potentially be joined by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson.

Slovakia, meanwhile, will have plenty of familiar faces in their side, with the likes of Martin Dubravka, Peter Pekarik, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak set to start once again.

Mak could play in a front three with Robert Polievka and Lukas Haraslin, although there are a number of other options in the final third of the field.

Juraj Kucka is the captain and will start in midfield, while Norbert Gyomber and Denis Vavro are expected to be the two central defenders for the home side.

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Palsson, A Gunnarsson, Magnusson, Gretarsson; A Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Porsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson

Slovakia possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Pekarik, Gyomber, Vavro, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Mak, Polievka, Haraslin

We say: Iceland 1-2 Slovakia

This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are expecting Saturday's contest to be close in terms of the final scoreline. It would not be a surprise to see Iceland pick up a positive result, but we believe that Slovakia will just shade it to collect a hugely important three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Matt Law

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