Home side Greece will hope to use their friendly clash against Bulgaria at Pankritio Stadio on Tuesday as preparation for their World Cup qualifiers in September.

Greece managed to defeat Slovakia 4-1 on Saturday in another friendly, while Bulgaria were held to a 2-2 stalemate by Cyprus on Friday, a game in which they twice squandered a lead.

Match preview

The hosts were level at 1-1 with Serbia from the 34th minute until they scored their second in the 66th minute, netting three goals in the closing half an hour.

Greece have in fact managed to find the back of the net at least twice in eight of their past 10 games, with the nation scoring seven in their last two.

The Azure & White kept their opponents at bay in six of those 10 fixtures, conceding six in that time.

Boss Ivan Jovanovic has overseen three victories in five matches, a period that encompasses two losses, and they did win each of their previous five.

Greece beat Slovakia 4-1 last time out at home on June 7, but they were defeated in their prior two at Pankritio Stadio.

Opponents Bulgaria only mustered two shots throughout their match against Cyprus, one of which came from the penalty spot in the 61st minute.

Manager Ilian Iliev will hope that his side can improve upon their defensive performances given they have conceded 12 times in their last six outings.

The Lions have lost their two most recent clashes against Greece, though they did get the better of their hosts in two of the previous three encounters.

Iliev’s team are winless four matches - losing twice – and they have drawn their last four international friendlies.

Bulgaria have struggled on their travels for some time, with the nation emerging as victors once in their past 13 on the road, and they were held to stalemates in seven of those games.

Greece form (all competitions):

Bulgaria form (all competitions):

Team News

Greece are unlikely to make many changes to the team that beat Slovakia, so expect striker Vangelis Pavlidis to be supported by Konstantinos Karetsas, Giannis Konstantelias, Christos Tzolis.

Perhaps Christos Zafeiris and Dimitrios Kourbelis will be paired together in midfield, while Panagiotis Retsos and Konstantinos Koulierakis could play in the middle of a back four.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria's Viktor Popov, Kristian Dimitrov, Aleks Petkov, Anton Nedyalkov are likely to start ahead of goalkeeper Svetoslav Vutsov.

Centre-forward Aleksandar Kolev is almost certain to feature, and he may be flanked by Bozhidar Kraev and Ilian Iliev, the son of the manager.

Greece possible starting lineup:

Mandas; Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Giannoulis; Zafeiris, Kourbelis; Karetsas, Konstantelias, Tzolis; Pavlidis

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:

Vutsov; Popov, Dimitrov, Petkov, Nedyalkov; Gruev, Milanov; Iliev, Shopov, Kraev; Kolev

We say: Greece 3-1 Bulgaria

Greece are not likely to face many chances on Monday given their strong defensive record in the past 10 games.

The hosts have also been excellent in attack in recent matches, and they could find joy against Bulgaria’s vulnerable defence.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Lewis Nolan

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