Bijol shines for Slovenia and now faces Leeds team-mate Elvedi

Jaka Bijol played all 90 minutes as Slovenia beat North Macedonia 2-0 in the UEFA Nations League, and Leeds United’s centre-back now faces a club-mate on Saturday when Slovenia travel to Switzerland, where Nico Elvedi plays.

Jaka Bijol has a strong night in Ljubljana

According to Leeds United’s website, the 27-year-old started at the heart of Slovenia’s defence and helped keep a clean sheet at Stadion Stožice. Sandi Lovrić scored 10 minutes after half-time and Aljoša Matko added a second in the 82nd minute, which gave Slovenia their first win of the Nations League campaign.

The club’s report credits Bijol with a match-high 11 defensive contributions. He made eight clearances, two blocks and one interception, plus three recoveries, and won five duels. He had 65 touches and completed 45 passes, and Slovenia had 16 shots to North Macedonia’s nine.

Next: Jaka Bijol meets Elvedi’s Switzerland

The win leaves Slovenia on four points from their first two matches, the club says. Their next game is Switzerland v Slovenia on Saturday 3 October, listed in UEFA’s fixture list. Leeds’ website says Bijol is set to face his club team-mate Nico Elvedi, who plays for Switzerland. Kick-off time and team news were not in our sources at the time of writing.

What it means for Leeds

Jaka Bijol is back with Leeds after the break. The Premier League returns on Saturday 10 October, when Leeds are listed away at Arsenal at 12:30 on TNT Sports, according to the Premier League’s fixture amendments. Whether Bijol and the other Leeds internationals return fit is for Leeds and the manager to confirm.

We have not found an official video or social post of the match that we can embed with confidence, so this piece has none. We’ll add one if the club or UEFA publishes highlights.

Elsewhere on the international break, see Gudmundsson expects a fight as Sweden face Bosnia.