Faroe Islands are set to welcome North Macedonia to Torsvollur on Saturday in each side's first game of their UEFA Nations League C campaign.
The home side are currently 138th in FIFA's rankings of national teams, and they lost their last game 1-0 against Latvia on June 11, while the visitors are ranked as the 72nd best national team in the world.
Match preview
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The hosts were promoted from Nations League D at the end of their 2020-21 campaign but finished third with eight points in their four-team group in 2022-23 and were five points from Turkey, who finished first and earned promotion to Nations League B.
Faroe Islands are unbeaten in their last four Nations League games, and in their most recent match in the competition in September 2022, they managed to beat Turkey 2-1.
However, boss Hakan Ericson will be concerned that his side have lost their last three games and have won just once in their last 16 matches.
This period of results included 12 defeats and just three draws, with Ericson's team failing to score on 11 occasions.
Faroe Islands' recent home record is also quite poor considering they have lost their last four games at Torsvollur, scoring just one goal while conceding nine times in those fixtures.
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Opponents North Macedonia finished third with seven points in their Nations League C group in 2022-23, nine fewer than group-winners Georgia.
The away side come into Saturday's clash having lost their last two Nations League games, including a 1-0 loss to Bulgaria on September 26, 2022, and having their last three matches in all competitions.
North Macedonia have not won an international game in 2024, and have in fact not won any of their last six fixtures, during which they conceded 13 goals.
Lions boss Blagoja Milevski has been in charge since August 2021, and has an overall record of 10 wins, eight draws and 13 losses.
Milevski will hope that his team can overcome their frailty on the road considering North Macedonia have lost eight of their last nine away matches.
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Team News
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The hosts could name a defence of Jann Julian Benjaminsen, Gullbrandur Oregaard, Arnbjorn Svensson and Viljormur Davidsen in front of goalkeeper Bardur A Reynatrod.
It would not be surprising if midfielder Rene Shaki Joensen started alongside Hanus Sorensen and Stefan Radosavljevic.
As for the visitors, Darko Velkovski and Visar Musliu can be expected to be chosen in defence, while Gjoko Zajkov could be the third centre-back.
North Macedonia could start Aleksandar Trajkovski up front, with Eljif Elmas in a withdrawn role behind him.
Faroe Islands possible starting lineup:
Reynatrod; Benjaminsen, Oregaard, Svensson, Davidsen; Radosavljevic, Joensen, Sorensen; Petersen, Olsen, Justinussen
North Macedonia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Zajkov, Velkovski, Musliu; Akovski, Alimi, Atanasov, Kostadinov, Alioski; Trajkovski, Elmas
We say: Faroe Islands 2-1 North Macedonia
Given North Macedonia's struggles away from home, it is difficult to see them leaving with any points.
Additionally, while Faroe Islands are in poor form themselves, they have at least proven they are capable of grinding out results in the Nations League and should come into the clash confident of securing a positive outcome.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
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