Slovakia’s Ivan Schranz is having a dream Euro 2024 tournament from an individual perspective and the wide attacker, who was a modest goalscorer for his country before jetting into Germany, has scored twice in as many games in Group E.

The 30-year-old scored from his only effort on target on matchday one against Belgium, though he doubled his output to two accurate strikes in Slovakia’s loss to Ukraine shortly after.

Interestingly, Schranz recorded just 25 touches against Belgium, though he was more of a protagonist against Ukraine, touching the ball an improved 42 times in total in the Falcons’ 2-1 reverse.

Schranz looked like a more confident player from the outset against Ukraine and he was likely buoyed by his winning goal against Belgium. Now sitting on two goals from two games, he should be central to Slovakia’s attacking patterns again on Wednesday, so look for the Slavia Prague attacker to notch at least another shot on target.

Marius Marin patrolled the Romanian midfield like a man possessed against Belgium and the 25-year-old attempted a game-high seven tackles and committed an unmatched three fouls during his dogged display in Cologne.

Marin has now committed at least one foul in four of his last seven competitive appearances for Romania while the tough tackler was responsible for 61 fouls over the course of his last club campaign with Italian side Pisa.

Incredibly, Marin was responsible for one foul for every 45.6 minutes of action in Serie B last term and he showcased his penchant for a shin-splintering challenge again against Belgium.

The importance of Wednesday’s encounter with Slovakia won’t be lost on Marin and he looks like a safe bet to foul at least once again.

Despite their eventual 2-0 defeat to Belgium, Romania gave a very decent account of themselves and they were well in the contest before Kevin De Bruyne scored the game’s pivotal second goal on 80 minutes.

Displaying many of the same impressive traits we saw in their comfortable matchday one success against Ukraine (3-0), Romania held 45% possession against Belgium, clocked 14 attempts and posted an xGF figure of 0.90 against their opponents.

The performance hammered home Romania’s dark horse reputation and their reverse was their first loss in 14 competitive fixtures since November 2011.

Romania can qualify for the knockout round of Euro 2024 with either a win or a draw on Wednesday, and a Slovakian side that conceded an xGF of at least 1.50 in each of their first two Group E matches might find it tough to slow their progress.

Indeed, Slovakia hold the lowest xGF and highest xGA figures in Group E overall ahead of the section’s final round of fixtures and their poor underlying stats could catch up with them this week.

Dennis Man was a keen creative force on matchday one, claiming two assists in Romania’s 3-0 win over Ukraine, however, the wide midfielder showed a different side to his character against Belgium.

Instead of opening up supply lines against the Belgians, Man took his turn to get on the end of his teammates’ passes and he lodged three attempts from his berth on the right, all of which hit the target.

Any Serie B fans out there (if they exist) would know that Man offered a consistent threat in the final third for Parma during the last club campaign in Italy when he hit 30 shots on target across his 32 appearances in the division.

Man had at least one shot on target in 21 of the same games for Parma and he also finished four of his last eight competitive runouts for Romania with one or more accurate efforts at goal.

Centre forward Denis Dragus plays an important role for Romania both in and out of possession and his tireless work rate when the Tricolorii are chasing the ball ensures he is never far from the action during most game phases.

Alongside scoring Romania’s third goal on matchday one, Dragus committed three fouls against Ukraine and his bustling style has been making life awkward for defenders in Group E.

Dragus didn’t shrink away from the physical aspects of Romania’s meeting with Belgium on matchday two either, making two fouls during his tangles with the Belgian defenders.

The 25-year-old, who committed at least one foul in 22 separate league matches for Parma in 2023/24, is likely to be just as aggressive in his approach against Slovakia and Dragus can be backed with confidence to give away at least two free kicks again.

PSG regular Milan Skriniar offers a high-profile physical presence at centre-half for Slovakia, and though he is a more than dependable performer, he does tend to foul when dragged out of position.

Skriniar committed one foul in each of his first two Group E appearances for Slovakia and on each occasion, his offence was carried out while the 29-year-old was isolated in unfamiliar territory.

Against Belgium, Skriniar gave away a free kick near the half way line, while he was marooned out near the touchline when he committed his foul against Ukraine.

Romania’s frontline is fluid and comprised of players who like to drift into different pockets of space, and Skriniar could be dragged into some uncomfortable areas again. If that happens, expect the giant defender to commit a foul as quickly as possible so he can reset.