Lithuania vs Bulgaria prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-06-16 13:00.
Lithuania’s bid for an inaugural appearance at a European Championships began with a 2-0 loss in Serbia earlier this year, extending their run of Euro qualifiers without victory to 11 games (D2, L9). When coupling that with an even poorer current 11-game winless streak in competitive football dating back to October 2021 (D1, L10), there’s little wonder they’re the rank outsiders to progress from Group G.
The hosts have recorded just two wins in their history against their four Group G opponents, and with one of those doubling as their most recent competitive win, their 3-1 World Cup Qualification triumph at home to Bulgaria in 2021 should drive Edgaras Jankauskas’ side to end their drought. That said, a total of just two goals scored from six home games since that win is far from inspirational!
Bulgaria haven’t come close to qualifying for a European Championship since falling one point short of getting into the 2008 finals when the Netherlands pipped them. Their two qualifiers in March, in which they lost 1-0 at home to Montenegro and 3-0 away to Hungary, has led to significant dissatisfaction with manager Mladen Krstajić just six games into his tenure.
That home loss to Montenegro was especially damaging, given the low likelihood of Bulgaria accumulating enough points on foreign soil to reach their first Euros since 2004. The visitors have now failed to win their last 16 away qualifiers (D5, L11) for either a European Championship or World Cup over a period of eight years!
Players to watch: It was 32-year-old forward Fedor Černych who drove the knife into Bulgarian hearts with a second-half double in that 3-1 H2H win back in 2021. Bulgaria’s consolation that day was found by Kiril Despodov, who is in incredible club form after contributing to a goal in nine of his last ten games for Ludogorets (G3, A11).
Hot stat: Lithuania have scored before half-time in just one of their last 25 losses.