Luxembourg vs Moldova Predictions

Luxembourg entertain Moldova at the Stade Josy Barthel on Saturday, hoping to secure a positive result in the opening round of League D Group 2 of the UEFA Nations League.

Luxembourg Head Coach Luc Holtz hasn’t sprung many surprises in his squad, picking just one uncapped player in his 23-man selection. 17-year old goalkeeper Tim Kips is the only player selected who hasn’t won a senior cap, though the stopper who plays his football for Magdeburg in Germany is unlikely to start this weekend.

Having lost just one of their last seven matches, Les Lions Rouges are in the midst of their best run of form in living memory. Six of those seven matches were non-competitive games, though wins against Hungary and Georgia, and draws with Bulgaria and Senegal are impressive nonetheless.

In competitive fixtures, Luxembourg finished their ultimately unsuccessful World Cup Qualification schedule in style, losing just one of their final four matches.  Within that sequence, Les Lions Rouges recorded one of, if not their most famous ever international result, holding France to a 0-0 draw in Paris.

At home, Luxembourg have turned the Stade Josy Barthel into a veritable fortress inside the space of a couple of years. They have gone from losing 8 matches on the spin on home turf between November 2015 and March 2017, to losing just once in 8 since June of last year.

On Saturday they come up against a Moldova side whose only away wins since 2014 came against Andorra and San Marino. That victory against San Marino is the Moldovans only international win in 21 games.

Moldova’s record in terms of results is as poor as they come, though they rarely seem to be taken to the cleaners, regardless of the level of opponent they face. They have only conceded more than 3 goals in a game once since 2013. In that fixture in September of last year, they slipped to a 0-4 loss to a Gareth Bale inspired Wales.

Moldovan supporters do have one reason to be excited about Saturday’s game. 18- year old wonderkid Virgiliu Postolachi is in line to win his first senior cap for Moldova this weekend. The Paris St. Germain youngster is expected to play a huge part for his country over the next decade.

Other than Postolachi, Moldova’s ability to keep the score down is about all they have going for them at present and we expect them to lose their 10^th match in 13 this weekend against a re-energised Luxembourg side. The home side have lost just once in 8 on home soil and that run should give them the confidence to edge past this lacklustre Moldova outfit.

Despite their recent spike in results, Luxembourg still haven’t developed a knack for hitting the net with any great regularity. Les Lions Rouges averaged 1 goal per game across their last 4 fixtures and we expect Saturday’s fixture to have a similarly low scoring look to it. With that considered, our correct score prediction is forecasting a 1-0 win for hosts.

Read More: FST’s Guide to the UEFA Nations League