Preview: North Macedonia vs. Slovenia - prediction, team news, lineups

North Macedonia begin their preparations for Euro 2020 with a home match against Slovenia in Skopje on Tuesday evening.

The Lions stunned Germany 2-1 in their most recent match and will be looking to carry that momentum into their first major tournament as an independent nation.

Match preview

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As far as shock results go, four-time world champions Germany losing at home to North Macedonia at the end of March is up there with the best of them.

Ilkay Gundogan cancelled out veteran striker Goran Pandev's opener, but Igor Angelovski's side found a winning goal in the 85th minute through Eljif Elmas.

That made it two victories from three games in World Cup qualifying, having lost their opening fixture to Romania, but for now all focus is on the European Championship finals.

The Lions reached the pan-European tournament for the first time in their 28-year history thanks to a playoff qualifying win against Georgia six months ago.

Angelovski's side have a couple of friendlies, against Slovenia and then Kazakhstan, before facing Austria, Ukraine and the Netherlands in Group C.

The first of those matches against Austria in Bucharest is just a couple of weeks away, so North Macedonia could do with a positive display against Slovenia on Tuesday.

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The visitors will not be competing at Euro 2020 after finishing fourth to Poland, Austria and indeed North Macedonia in their qualifying group.

Slovenia finished with an identical record to their opponents, but an inferior head-to-head record saw them eliminated and North Macedonia progress through to the playoffs.

The fine margins between the sides is only highlighted by a look at the latest FIFA rankings, with Slovenia one place behind the Lions.

Matjaz Kek's men have made a mixed start to World Cup qualifying, having followed up an impressive win over Croatia with back-to-back losses against Russia and Cyprus.

They are winless in three away from home, while North Macedonia are unbeaten in seven in Skopje over the past couple of years.

Team News

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With three months since his side's last outing, and just two weeks until their Euro 2020 opener, Angelovski will surely be tempted to field his strongest side on Tuesday.

Pandev will compete at his first international tournament at the age of 37, while Leeds United defender Ezgjan Alioski is another notable name in their squad.

Elmas netted the famous winner against Germany and is in line to start against Slovenia, likely positioned just off Pandev and Aleksandar Trajkovski.

As for the visitors, long-serving boss Kek will use June's friendlies with North Macedonia and Gibraltar as a chance to keep his players ticking over.

Following successive qualifying defeats, this seems a good opportunity for Slovenia to change things around slightly ahead of more important games further down the line.

North Macedonia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Nikolov, Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Bardhi, Ademi, Elmas; Trajkovski, Pandev

Slovenia possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Stojanovic, Blazic, Mevlja, Balkovec; Bijol, Kurtic, Lovric; Ilicic, Sporar, Bohar

We say: North Macedonia 2-0 Slovenia

This may only be a friendly, but there is an element of importance to it from North Macedonia's perspective as they will be eager to keep their momentum going.

Just one place separates the sides in terms of FIFA rankings, but the hosts got the better of their opponents in the last qualifying campaign and we can see them prevailing here.