Slovenia vs England: Seven things you need to know about Three Lions’ opponents ahead of tonight’s crunch clash
Gareth Southgate hoping to make it two wins from two games when he takes team to the Stozice Stadium next week
GARETH SOUTHGATE will be hoping to make it two wins on the bounce when England travel to Slovenia for their World Cup qualifier tonight.
The interim boss presided over an impressive 2-0 win against Malta on Saturday night, and knows victory in his three remaining games could see him replace Sam Allardyce on a temporary basis.
Slovenia are a familiar face to England fans, with the Three Lions already facing the Balkan side in their Euro 2016 qualifying group.
Wayne Rooney scored in each of those meetings, and the skipper will be hoping to make it three in a row in the Stozice Stadium next week.
Here, SunSport reveals seven things you need to know about Slovenia ahead of the crunch World Cup 2018 qualifier:
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1. They have one of the world’s best goalkeepers
DANIEL STURRIDGE might have scored against Malta on Friday but he’s going to find life a lot tougher against Slovenia’s Jan Oblak.
The Atletico Madrid ace is widely regarded as one of the finest shot-stoppers around, and is so good that Inter Milan stalwart Samir Handanovic retired when he realised he wasn’t going to win the No.1 jersey back.
2. They’re unbeaten so far
LIKE England, Slovenia are yet to lose in either of their two opening matches in the group.
They recorded an impressive win against Slovakia while securing a draw with Lithuania, and will be pumped right up for the occasion.
3. They’re missing their key player
DANNY ROSE and Kyle Walker can breathe a collective sigh of relief – Bayer Leverkusen’s Kevin Kampl will not be playing on Tuesday.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund star pulled out of the game citing exhaustion, and some of his teammates have branded him a ‘deserter’ for his controversial decision.
4. They’ve scored three goals in their last two games against England
JOE HART hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of times against Slovenia in the last few years.
They always find a way to put the ball in the back of the net, and Southgate will be determined to keep them at bay and help England finally record a clean sheet.
5. They have big Serie A experience
THREE of Slovenia’s most capped players all ply their trade in Italy’s top division.
Valter Birsa, Josip Ilicic and Jasmin Kurtic are all highly experienced stars in Serie A, while highly-rated midfielder Rene Krhin came through the youth ranks at Inter Milan.
6. They have a 37-year-old striker
MILIVOJE NOVAKOVIC might be getting on a bit, but he’s still scored 31 times in 78 games for his country.
The speed looks to have gone, but his experience and aerial prowess could be enough to throw John Stones off his game.
7. They have a Championship star for the future
HUDDERSFIELD are leading the race for the Championship title, but many don’t know they snapped up one of Slovenia’s finest prospects from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Jon Gorenc Stankovic is only 20 and made the squad for the friendly against Turkey – he isn’t selected to face England on Tuesday, but they’ll be up against him soon enough if the two nations clash heads in the future.
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