Israel vs Faroe Islands Predictions

• The Faroe Islands have conceded 3 or more goals in 3 of their 4 away matches in the group, the exception being a 1-1 draw with rock-bottom Moldova.
• Throughout the entire UEFA qualification campaign, only 6 teams have scored more than Israel’s 20 goals.
• Israel have only kept 1 clean sheet in 9 qualification matches.

Israel to end Campaign on a High

Despite having twice led in Klagenfurt on Friday night, Israel saw their slim hopes of a World Cup qualification playoff place formally ended, in a 4-2 reverse to Austria. The free-scoring Israelis will now be looking to round off an encouraging campaign by sealing third place on Monday.

Having netted 20 goals in 9 games, Israel boast an attacking record better than all bar 6 teams in the European qualification process, but their leaky defence has limited their ability to seriously push Denmark and Scotland in group E.

For a side ranked 80^th in FIFA’s world rankings, however, a third-placed finish, which they would secure with a comfortable win here, would represent progress. PSV striker Eran Zahavi will not be thinking of this game as a dead rubber; he is level with Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski in the goalscoring charts, trailing Memphis Depay by a solitary goal.

Faroes’ Away-Day Struggles

Israel’s defence has proven so porous that they have only conceded one goal more than the Faroe Islands, ranked 116^th in the world. The Faroes were beaten by a respectable 3-1 scoreline by Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark last time out, and made Austria and Scotland work for victories in October.

However, they have conceded 3 or more goals on 3 of their 4 away trips in this group. With the visitors making a long trip of over 4,500km for an encounter which Israel should take seriously, I expect the hosts to continue to rack up the goals. Zahavi scored a hat-trick when visiting the Faroes in September, and will relish the opportunity to move clear of his competitors.

For these reasons, I’m confidently tipping Israel to win by a margin of over two goals. Given the hosts’ tendency to concede goals, however, a correct score prediction of 4-1 may be worth a punt.