Liechtenstein vs Albania Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Liechtenstein are generally the whipping boys of their qualification campaign, and judging by their display in the opening game of this one, this time is going to be no different. Admittedly they did have the almost insurmountable task of visiting Spain, but the 8-0 thrashing they incurred doesn’t bode well for the future.

This defeat made it nine defeats and two draws since their last victory, which came at home to fellow minnows San Marino in a friendly last March. This was only Liechtenstein’s second victory in the last four years, and 28 of their 35 matches in that time have ended in defeat.

Their home form looks no better either. They have won one, drawn four, and lost 11 of their last 16 games at home and haven’t won a competitive game there since 2011, when they beat Lithuania 2-0. Liechtenstein’s last four outings have seen them concede a ridiculous 20 goals as well, so things aren’t looking good for them at the moment.

Albania, on the other hand, are having a fantastic year. They qualified for their first ever major finals last year after coming 2nd in their Euro 2016 qualifying group ahead of Denmark and Serbia. They lost their opening two matches against Switzerland and France, but to be fair to them they held their own for a lot of the time before beating Romania 1-0 in the final group game. It wasn’t enough to take them through the groups, but it marked their first ever goal and first ever win in a major tournament.

Since then they have drawn with Morocco in a friendly and they beat Macedonia 2-1 in their World Cup qualification opener. Unfortunately they have been drawn in an incredibly tough group including Italy and Spain, and their chances of making it to Russia in 2018 are very low indeed.

They will feel incredibly confident about getting one over on Liechtenstein though. The hosts have lost 8-0 to Spain, 5-0 to Denmark, and 4-0 to Iceland in their last three outings and are looking defensively awful. Albania aren’t the best attacking side, but they will be confident about knocking a few past Liechtenstein. I’m backing an Albania Win and Over 2.5 Goals at 10/11 along with a 3-0 correct score prediction at 5/1.