Romania vs Lithuania prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League C betting tips on match 2024-09-08 18:45.
[p]After falling at the Round of 16 stage at this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament to the Netherlands, the pressure will have been on Romania to deliver in their opening UEFA Nations League fixture (UNL) as they entered Group C2 as the favourites. Thankfully for manager Mircea Lucescu, his side lived up to that billing by cruising to an easy 3-0 away victory over Kosovo, the same result they opened up their Euro 2024 campaign with over Ukraine. [/p]
[p]Unlike in that tournament, Romania will be looking to do much better here and with a near-perfect prior record against Lithuania to fall back on (W12, L1), they seem well-placed to take advantage of their opponents once again. The hosts have also fared pretty well on home soil of late, which will only heighten confidence even further as they remain unbeaten in Romania since the start of 2023 (W4, D4) – even if they’ve failed to score in their last two such outings![/p]
[p]That will come as a slight glimmer of hope for visiting Lithuania, but after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Cyprus in their UNL opening on Friday, spirits will no doubt be low in the away changing room. Manager Edgaras Jankauskas will point to the fact that that loss acted as their first in 90 minutes across their last four outings (W3, D1) but even still, those matches came against opposition ranked significantly lower than their challengers here. [/p]
[p]What will also be of concern for Lithuania supporters is the fact that their team haven’t fared well at all since this tournament came into existence, winning just four of their 20 matches in total (D3, L13). Three of those victories did come on the road, but with their only prior visit to Romania in this competition ending in a 3-0 defeat back in November 2018, another long night for the Baltic nation could be in store. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: After scoring twice across his opening three Serie A outings for Parma this season, Dennis Man continued his fine goalscoring to open the scoring for Romania versus Kosovo on Friday. No player in the current Lithuania squad has scored more times for the national side than Vykintas Slivka (G3), with his nation remaining unbeaten across his goalscoring outings to date (D3). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: None of Lithuania’s last 11 away internationals have seen both teams score. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Nathan Evans[/i] Â [/p]