Slovakia vs Kazakhstan

City Arena Trnava is the venue as Slovakia and Kazakhstan are set to square off in a top-table UEFA Nations League Group C3 six-pointer.

After suffering relegation from League B in the last edition, Slovakia launched their League C campaign with a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Belarus on neutral soil. The Slovaks have gone from three consecutive competitive matches without winning (D2, L1) to back-to-back victories, both of which yielded clean sheets. A victory in their first-ever meeting with Kazakhstan would bolster Slovakia’s hopes of securing a quick League B return as the two sides currently battle it out for a top place in Group 3. The ‘Falcons’ can draw confidence from their stellar form against nations currently ranked outside FIFA’s top 100. Indeed, they have never lost a competitive match against such teams.

On the other hand, FIFA’s #125-ranked Kazakhstan got their Group 3 campaign off to a flying start, pulling off a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan at home. Now unbeaten in four internationals inside 90 minutes (W3, D1), the visitors will look to build on a 2-1 Nations League win over Moldova in their most recent away fixture. That victory, in fact, snapped Kazakhstan’s underwhelming eight-match winless streak on foreign soil (D3, L5). But with five of those eight games seeing the ‘Hawks’ fail to get on the scoresheet, penetrating Slovakia’s rock-solid backline could prove daunting. What’s more, Kazakhstan are without a clean sheet in their last seven competitive away fixtures.