- England are looking to build on a 3-1 opening victory over the Czech Republic
- Slovenia have much to do after losing their opening game 3-0 to Germany
- Recommended bet: Over 2.5 England goals

England manager Lee Carsley could not have hoped for much better from his team’s opening game in defence of their European Under-21 Championship crown, a 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic, and confidence should be high as they move on to face Slovenia.

Their opponents have much to do after losing their opening encounter 3-0 to Germany and Andrej Razdrh’s side could be in for another difficult evening.

Team news

Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri will be hoping that he comes into L;ee Carsley’s plans after featuring as a substitute in the win over the Czech Republic, but the manager may elect to stick with a winning team, even though thoughts could move towards Wednesday’s potential group decider against Germany.

There have been no fresh injuries reported in the Slovenian camp, but it might not be a surprise if Andrej Razdrh shuffled the pack after the disappointment of losing so emphatically to Germany.

The stats

Six of England’s last eight matches have featured at least three goals.

Slovenia have lost all four of the matches they have played in the finals of this tournament.

Their loss to Germany extended Slovenia’s winless streak to five games.

England have lost just one of their last 13 matches.

There have been 18 goals in England’s last three U-21s internationals, while there have been five goals in the first 10 minutes of those three matches.

Prediction

It was mission accomplished for England as they started the defence of their European U-21s Championship with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic, and Lee Carsley’s side should be able to build on that when they face Slovenia in Nitra on Sunday.

Harvey Elliott, Jon Rowe and Charlie Cresswell were all on target as the Three Lions continued their free-scoring form, following four against Portugal and three against France in their two most recent friendlies, and they can continue their rich vein in their second group game.

England did lose 5-3 to Les Bleus in March, but their opponents will still be reeling after they fell to a 3-0 defeat to Germany in their opening encounter, when Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade made early headway in the Golden Boot race with a hat-trick.

That was Slovenia’s fifth successive defeat and with only a few days to iron out their defensive issues, they look set to be regularly exposed again, so take England to continue their fine start by scoring more than two goals in their weekend clash.

Back Over 2.5 England goals at 4/5 with LiveScore Bet.