Slovenia drew 0-0 at home to Scotland in the opening round. Jan Oblak was the key man, and Slovenia managed only three shots, one of them on target. They have won just one game in 2026, 3-2 away to Montenegro in March, and otherwise lost to Hungary (0-1) and Croatia (1-2) and drew 1-1 with Cyprus. Head coach Boštjan Cesar is without Benjamin Šeško, who left the squad with a recurring shin injury. Vanja Drkušić was injured against Scotland and is expected to be replaced by David Zec, and Andraž Šporar is a doubt.
North Macedonia lost 0-3 at home to Switzerland and were completely outplayed: two shots to 23, none on target and an xG of 0.05 according to Sofascore. They have failed to score in their last four games (0-3 against Switzerland, 0-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, 0-0 against Ireland and 0-4 against Denmark). Head coach Goce Sedloski is still waiting for his first win, but according to the latest reports he has no new injuries and can name the same starting eleven. Eljif Elmas and Enis Bardhi are the players expected to create something going forward.
North Macedonia are unbeaten in the last three meetings: 1-1 in a friendly in 2021, 2-1 in Euro qualifying in 2019 and 1-1 in Slovenia the same year. History does not point to an easy Slovenian win. Instead, the likely pattern is a tight, low-scoring game, with Slovenia on the ball but missing their best striker, and North Macedonia struggling even to get shots away. After the first round Switzerland have three points, Scotland and Slovenia one each and North Macedonia none, so both sides need something tonight.
What counts against the bet is that North Macedonia's defence can collapse, as the 1-7 defeat in Wales last November and the 0-4 loss to Denmark show. An early Slovenian goal could force the visitors forward and open the game up. Slovenia's back line is also weakened without Drkušić. We decided against a straight Slovenia win (1.61) because Slovenia find goals so hard to come by, and instead we're backing both teams not to score, where it is enough for one side to keep a clean sheet.
According to our odds panel, BTTS No is priced at 1.61 with 10bet. Given North Macedonia's four straight games without a goal and Slovenia's clean sheet against Scotland, we see the price as fair. It is the same price as a straight Slovenia win, but it does not require Slovenia to score themselves.
Betting tip: Both teams to score – No @ 1.61 (10bet)
Odds were taken from OddsCapo on Tuesday and may have changed. Always check the price with the bookmaker before you bet.
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