England vs Slovenia Prediction: Can sleepy England come to life and make their fans happy?

At Köln's Cologne Stadium on Tuesday, Slovenia takes on England in a UEFA European Championship group-stage match. England's goal is to secure a spot in the Round of 16. In their final group stage match on June 20, England drew 1-1 with Denmark to earn a point. In the tie, Harry Kane scored. They have two wins, ties, and losses from their six games this season. In their most recent match, a group stage match on June 20 at Fußball Arena München, Slovenia and Serbia drew 1-1, extending Slovenia's unbeaten run to eight games. In the tie, Zan Karnicnik scored a goal. 

Slovenia is in third place in the group with two points, while England leads the group with four. While Slovenia is now out of the knockout round spots but still has a chance to make it to the Round of 16, England is currently in a position to do so. Denmark is in a good position to move on to the Round of 16 as they sit second in the group with two points. Serbia, currently in fourth place by one point, could be eliminated. The last time the two teams played, England won 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in a UEFA World Cup Qualifiers first-round encounter in October 2017.

In the Euro 2024 competition, Jude Bellingham and Kane have drawn attention from England. With one goal apiece, the two are tied for third place in the competition's scoring statistics and are the team's top scorers jointly. Bellingham and Kane each have one goal to start a match, which is the same number. With one goal apiece in this season's Euro 2024, Erik Janza and Karnicnik have been Slovenia's top offensive players. On the competition's scoring charts, they are tied for third place. In their last 14 games across all competitions, Slovenia has scored. Since their match against Finland in June 2023 during the European Championship Qualifiers, they have not been eliminated. England has played six games in which they have won two, drawn two, and lost two.

Over that period, the English team scored seven goals and gave up five, winning three of the six games. While their opponents scored four goals in the first forty-five minutes, they had three goals in the first half. In their last six games, the Slovenian team has won two and drawn four. During that time, the Slovenian team scored nine goals and gave up six, scoring first in four of the six. Their opponents scored twice before halftime, while they scored three goals in the first half

Jude Bellingham, who had an incredible first season at Real Madrid, led England to a crucial 1-0 victory over Serbia in their Group C opener on Sunday, guaranteeing that the Three Lions' journey to defeat the challenges of Euro 2020 got off to a good start. After 20-year-old Bellingham headed home a header from Bukayo Saka's deflected cross in the 13th minute, it looked as though the floodgates would open, but England's inability to capitalize on their early dominance resulted in a nervous second half as they had to withstand pressure from a much-improved Serbian team.

Still, from a defensive standpoint, Gareth Southgate's team can be encouraged because they displayed "resilience" in order to neutralize Serbia's threat. In the end, England managed to secure all possible points and are currently two points ahead of Slovenia and Denmark. They know that if they win against the former on Thursday, they will advance to the round of sixteen. With eight wins and four draws in their group stage record since their Euro 2004 opener against France, England has become the first country in the history of the European Championship to keep five straight clean sheets during the championship.

It's interesting to note that when England plays Denmark on Thursday, they will be attempting to win their first two games at a Euros tournament for the first time, although victory over the Danes is far from assured given that they have lost all three of their prior competitive meetings in 90 minutes.

Slovenia began their Euro 2024 Group C campaign last Sunday in Stuttgart with a 1-1 draw against Denmark. Slovenia is competing in their first European Championship since 2000 and its first big event since the 2010 World Cup. Christian Eriksen's well-worked goal gave the Danes the lead at the half, precisely 1,110 days after he had a heart episode during Euro 2020. But 13 minutes from time, Erik Janza's deflection goal beat Kasper Schmeichel to give Slovenia a much-needed comeback and equalizer.

After a match of two "very different" halves, both countries were compelled to share the spoils, and Slovenia's head coach Matjaz Kek thought it was a "fair" result. His team finished the match strongly. Slovenia, ranked 57th in the world by FIFA, has yet to win a game at the European Championship since becoming an independent nation. They had lost all three of their previous games at Euro 2000, except one draw against Serbia (who was then known as Yugoslavia).

Slovenia has won four of their previous five encounters with Serbia, but they have only won one of their previous seven international games across all competitions. Their most recent matchup with Serbia came in the UEFA Nations League in June 2022, where they drew 2-2, just seven days after losing 4-1 the previous month.

For Tuesday's crucial match, the form book clearly favors Slovenia over England—statements we did not expect to hear leading up to the tournament—and it should prove to be a difficult task for Southgate's weary team to penetrate the Oblak-marshalled defense.

But, like happened in South Africa fourteen years prior, a single goal ought to be sufficient to send the mediocre Three Lions into the round of sixteen as group winners, even though it won't give them much hope for the remaining games.