GREECE vs SLOVENIA

The Greece national football team will lock horns with Slovakia in a World Cup qualifying game at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Friday.

The chances of Greece directly qualifying for the finals in Brazil are not looking that good. They are currently at the second position in their group which is Group G. They have got the same no. of points as the table toppers Bosnia and Herzegovina, but, there is a huge difference between the goal differentials of the two teams. The no. of goals scored by Bosnia is 20 more than the no. of goals conceded by them, while, in Greece’s case, it’s only 5.

Bosnia has to play its next two games against Liechtenstein and Lithuania respectively. Both these teams are comparatively weaker and they are not expected to prevent Bosnia from securing 3 points. So, it’s important for Greece to make sure that they win both their remaining games and that too by big margins so that they can leave Bosnia behind on the basis of goal difference. However, this is looking close to impossible as Greece has found the net just 9 times in their 8 games so far. So, it’s hard to imagine them striking more than 15 times in their next couple of games.

On the other hand, Slovakia is not in contention now for a place in the finals. They have just managed to win 3 out of their 8 games so far and now, it’s only a matter of pride for them. They would like to be the party spoilers for Greece.

When Greece had taken on Slovakia at Bratislava last year, they had won by 1-0. A win by such a close margin will not do the trick for them this time around. They need to win by a much bigger margin.