Belarus vs Moldova Predictions

Belarus are the highest ranked team in the group and this is reflected with them being the only unbeaten team out of themselves, Moldova, Luxembourg and San Marino. Belarus have already scored six goals in the competition but five of those came against the world’s 204th ranked side San Marino so this isn’t that much of an achievement.

They have also failed to really set the competition alight in their other games as they drew 0-0 with their current opponents Moldova last month.  Moldova are 173rd in the world but the Belarussians couldn’t lay a glove on them as Moldova came out with a really steely performance. Belarus really should have been looking to thrash the Moldovans considering the great disparity of the world rankings.

Belarus were slightly better in their game against the similarly strong Luxembourg though as the eastern-Europeans came out victorious in this game where the amount of shots and possession was almost perfectly equal. It was tight, and Anton Saroka’s solitary goal was enough to win it but Belarus will still be hoping to kick on in this competition.

Igor Kriushenko’s squad lacks a real maestro figure with no one player really being of a much higher quality than the rest. Despite this, they are still unbeaten in the Nations League and are on course to finish top, but they will be hoping for more convincing performances in the future.

Moldova have actually done OK in the Nations League so far despite being ranked 173rd in the world. They got off to a shocker in Luxembourg where they were embarrassed 4-0 but they managed to get their dignity back when they drew 0-0 with the aforementioned Belarus. It was a great team performance from the Moldovans as every player played out of their skin in front of a passionate home crowd and they took this form into their most recent game where they beat San Marino 2-0. The Sammarinese are obviously not the most testing of opponents but for Moldova to travel away to the Apennine Mountains and get a win and a clean sheet is still a great achievement.

The mood in the Moldova camp has definitely been improved by these results and with them knowing that they can take the game to the much stronger Belarus, they should be quietly confident of pulling off an upset. They will have to rely on the experience of their captain Alexandru Epureanu and his 84 international caps at centre-back but also the calmness of Artur Ionita in midfield. No player has over eight goals for Moldova in this current squad but there is a lot of hype around 19-year-old Vitalie Damascan who has already made three appearances for his country up front. The young forward recently signed for Torino in Italy after scoring 13 goals in 17 games for Sheriff in the top Moldovan league. He is still to score for Moldova but should have the wind in his sails after a whirlwind 12 months.

We’re expecting a gritty performance from Moldova, but we doubt they will recreate the feat they managed at home to Belarus. Belarus have only lost one of their last eight games and have won their last two home games without conceding. Moldova have only won one of their last ten games, conceding 13 and only scoring three in the process. We doubt this will be a landslide victory as Moldova have already proven themselves against Belarus, but we still expect a 1-0 victory for the hosts in this game.