Romania head into their UEFA Nations League fixture with Finland having started life in League B Group 3 with successive defeats.

In sharp contrast, Finland have collected four points from two games, and victory on Saturday evening would realistically ensure that relegation from the third tier is no longer a possibility.

Match preview

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When the draw was made, there was every expectation that the four nations would take points off one another, promotion and relegation being decided by small margins.

To a large degree, that has proven to be the case with Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro all collecting one win apiece from their opening two games.

However, Romania remain rooted to the bottom of the table with two losses and no goals, Edward Iordanescu left under pressure to try to instigate a change in fortunes over the next week.

That may prove far easier said than done, Romania's only two wins in nine attempts coming against the likes of Armenia and Liechtenstein.

For balance, three of their last four games have come away from home, a draw in Israel being posted before the defeats to Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In sharp contrast, Finland have largely been on an upward trajectory, with two of their four defeats since Euro 2020 coming at the hands of France.

At the end of last year, Markku Kanerva witnessed his team win in Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and they head into this fixture on the back of an excellent 2-0 win over Montenegro.

Both goals came from Joel Pohjanpalo, the Bayer Leverkusen man now in double figures for his country and assisting the efforts of legendary teammate Teemu Pukki.

This game will represent just the fourth-ever competitive game between the nations, the last occasion coming in October 2015 when they played out a 1-1 draw in qualification ahead of Euro 2016.

Team News

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A number of changes could potentially be made in the Romania final third, Andrei Ivan seemingly most likely to return on the left-hand side.

Andrei Ratiu and Nicusor Bancu are both options in the wing-back areas if Iordanescu opts to add some fresh legs on the flanks.

Having established a two-goal lead ahead of the final quarter against Montenegro, a number of Finland players were rested by Kanerva.

That could lead to the same starting lineup being selected for this contest, a decision which would result in experienced midfielder Rasmus Schuller remaining among the replacements.

Romania possible starting lineup:
Nita; Rus, Burca, Chiriches; Manea, R. Marin, M. Marin, Camora; Cicaldau, Ivan; Puscas

Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Vaisanen, Ivanov, Jensen; Granlund, Lingman, Kamara, Niskanen; Lod, Pohjanpalo, Pukki

We say: Romania 1-1 Finland

The form book points to Finland remaining on track for promotion and pushing Romania towards the second tier exit door. However, despite their lack of goals, we are backing Romania to find some form in front of their own supporters, even if it may only be enough for a share of the spoils.

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

Written by
Darren Plant

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