England cannot afford complacency in Slovenia
England visit Slovenia on Tuesday in group F of World Cup qualifying hoping to maintain their hundred percent record in their campaign so far.
The visitors produced a lukewarm display last time out to defeat minnows Malta 2-0 at Wembley to move to the top of the group. A decent first half display was followed by a lacklustre second half in Gareth Southgate’s first game in charge of the Three Lions.
The former-Middlesbrough boss has three more games to impress as interim boss before the FA decides whether he will be given the job on a permanent basis. A positive result against Slovenia would definitely help his case to be appointed on a full-time basis.
However, England need to be careful, as the trip to Slovenia is a banana skin. Slovenia are currently third in the group, having opened their campaign with a draw in Lithuania and a 1-0 home victory over Slovakia last time out.
Srecko Katanec’s team are no doubt a level above Malta, even if they have won just one of their last five international matches. If England head to Ljubljana just expecting to turn up to win then they could easily come unstuck.
The Three Lions first two performances in the group, under two different bosses, have not been that convincing. There is also the suspicion that the Three Lions 2-1 defeat in the last-16 of Euro 2016 against Iceland is still in the player's psyche.
Many of the same players are still in the squad and it may take them a while to recover from such an embarrassing defeat. This game could be relatively tight, as Slovenia have a decent home record, having lost just once in their last six home games.
History is one England’s side, though, as the Three Lions have won all four international meetings with Slovenia, including the last meeting which came in qualifying for Euro 2016.
England may well come away from the Slovenian capital with maximum points, but if they show any complacency they could easily come away with another embarrassing result.
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