Slovenian favourites to win?
Thursday is already big match day at the European Handball Championship in Hungary and Slovakia. 18 of the 24 participating teams will play their opening match. Among them is a team that might have to be seen as secret favourites, namely the team from Slovenia. In the first match of the tournament, the duel against North Macedonia is on the agenda.
The Slovenians have made a great development. Two years ago, Ljubomir Vranjes’ team made it to the semi-finals of the European Championship. The face of the team hasn’t changed much, so qualification for the main round should be a mere formality.
Denmark and Slovenia are the teams to expect from Group A in the next round, while Montenegro and North Macedonia are the clear outsiders.
However, Ljubomir Vranjes’ team also has to deal with setbacks every now and then, which is actually hard to understand given the quality of the squad. Nevertheless, it should at least be enough for a win on Thursday. Between Slovenia and North Macedonia, we think there is no alternative to betting on a successful Slovenian start to the tournament.
Slovenia – Statistics & current form
Slovenia came together just after Christmas and went on a bubble in Zrece. Therefore, the Slovenian team has been spared any major bad news and can now optimistically start the journey to Debrecen. As fourth at the last European Championships and ninth at the last World Championships, they can set themselves high goals.
Preparation without major incidents
The Slovenians are keeping a low profile for the time being. The focus is completely on the first match against the northern Macedonians. To start with a victory would be eminently important, because in the second group match the world champions from Denmark are waiting, where the semi-finals could be at stake, because the points from the preliminary round will be taken into the main round.
The Slovenians are keeping a low profile.
The team of Ljubomir Vranjes has at least played one test match before the European Championship. That is more than was possible for other teams. They managed a 33:26 victory against a battered Croatian team. The result should certainly not be overrated, but it shows that the odds on a Slovenian win between Slovenia and Northern Macedonia are interesting.
In terms of personnel, things are basically looking quite good. With Tadej Kljun and Rok Ovcinek, however, there are two injured players in the Slovenian squad. In addition, keeper Urban Lesjak of Hannover-Burgdorf had to be dropped from the line-up after his infection. All in all, however, a strong team is available.
The squad of Slovenia:
Goal: Baznik, Panjtar, Kastelic
Back: Skube, Zarabec, Makuc, Henigman, Levc, Mackovsek, Dolenec, Groselj, Kljun
Left wing: Kodrin, Sokolic
Right wing: Marhuc, Janc
Circle: Blagotinsek, Poteko, Suholeznik
Coach: Vranjes
Last matches of Slovenia:
European Championships Qualification Grp. 5
05/02 2021 – Slovenia 39 – 24 Turkey
04/29 2021 – Poland 27 – 26 Slovenia
04/27 2021 – Turkey 22 – 30 Slovenia
03/09 2021 – Slovenia 32 – 29 Poland
World Championships Main Round Grp. 4
01/24 2021 – Slovenia 25 – 25 Egypt
Northern Macedonia – Statistics & current form
Kiril Lazarov is a trademark and a player of incredible quality. By now the Macedonian is 41 years old and probably one of the best handball players ever. He doesn’t feel too old to play yet and that’s why he now even has two jobs at the European Championships. As a backcourt cannon, he stands on the plate and on the side he is also the coach of his team.
Make-less record in test matches
The only problem is that Kiril Lazarov is also getting on in years now. Besides, he doesn’t have enough players of calibre around him. Therefore, we assume that the European Championship will be over early for the Macedonians and continue to give a prediction on a Slovenian victory before the match between Slovenia and Northern Macedonia.
Kiril Lazarov’s team even managed to play three matches in preparation. However, they have chosen opponents to boost their own confidence. Twice it was against Kuwait and most recently they won against Israel. The three victories are of little significance, however, because every team at the European Championship is likely to be stronger than its test match opponents.
The Northern Macedonians do not have too many absentees to complain about. Kiril Lazarov’s team has been spared any positive PCR tests so far. Only one player had to withdraw due to injury. However, this is an absence that hurts, because with Dejan Manaskov an important player on the left wing is missing.
The squad of North Macedonia:
Goal: Mitrevski, Tomovski, Kizikj
Back: Gjorgiev, Mitev, Mirkulovski, Krstevski, Misevski, Taleski, Kuzmanovski, Mladenovikj, Velkoski, Lazarov, Serafimov
Left wing: Ojileski, Madzovski
Right wing: Kosteski, Georgievski
Circle: Stoilov, Simonoski, Markoski, Pesevski, Petrov
Coach: Lazarov
Last matches of North Macedonia:
Friendlies
01/03 2022 – North Macedonia 31 – 28 Israel
European Championships Qualification Grp. 7
05/02 2021 – North Macedonia 29 – 28 Switzerland
04/28 2021 – Finland 22 – 27 North Macedonia
03/14 2021 – Denmark 37 – 21 North Macedonia
03/11 2021 – North Macedonia 33 – 29 Denmark
Slovenia – North Macedonia Direct comparison / H2H balance
Since 2012, the national teams from Slovenia and Northern Macedonia have crossed paths a total of eight times. The direct comparison in this period is only just in favour of the Slovenians with 4:2 victories. Two duels ended in a draw. However, the trends of the two teams are opposite.
The Slovenians are on the rise, while the quality of the North Macedonians has declined with the increasing age of Kiril Lazarov. This is reflected in the last meeting between these two opponents at the World Cup last year. In Egypt, the Slovenians won the main round clearly and emphatically with 31:21.
Slovenia – North Macedonia tip
The Slovenians have big plans for this European Championship. At the very least, Ljubomir Vranjes’ team is expected to advance to the semi-finals and play for the medals, just as they did at the 2020 European Championship. Of course, everything has to go right for that and the Slovenian team would have to be spared any absences of its key players.
However, the opening match on Thursday should only be a formality. The northern Macedonians do not belong to the European top class. They have won three matches in preparation for the tournament, but against teams whose level is hardly comparable to that of the Slovenians.
Of course, you can’t take any team lightly in a European Championship, but for Ljubomir Vranjes’ team the tournament will probably only really get underway on Saturday with the clash against world champions Denmark. We have decided to play the betting odds on a Slovenian handicap win (-7.5) in the match between Slovenia and Northern Macedonia.
