Estonia vs Malta prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League D betting tips on match 2022-09-22 16:00.
An immediate bounce back from the disappointing UEFA Nations League (UNL) relegation campaign of 2020/21 is within reach for Estonia, who simply need to avoid defeat in their penultimate game to secure their return to League C at the first time of asking. This competition hadn’t been kind to the Estonians before this edition, but their pair of victories this time around, albeit in the lowest tier, has improved their record to three wins from 16 UNL games (D5, L8).
Inspiring further confidence is Estonia’s current four-game unbeaten streak against Malta, yet this could be a tight game considering four of their last six UNL home games ended level (W1, L1). Ranked 110th by FIFA, Estonia are favourites to justify their superior ranking against 169th ranked Malta and perhaps secure a first run of three straight home clean sheets since January 2016.
Sitting level on points with Estonia but with this being their final game, it’s simply win or bust for Malta. Only a 2+ goal margin of victory will guarantee Malta promotion and a first crack at League C, yet if they win by a single goal, they’d be relying on FIFA’s lowest-ranked nation San Marino to notch a positive result against Estonia in their final game… an unlikely outcome indeed.
The Maltese look up against it here as they’ll face a much tougher resistance than they did against San Marino in their last road trip as Malta recorded just their second victory in 23 away internationals (D5, L16). Whatever happens though, Malta can afford to give this their all, with safety already ensured and no competitive action until Euro 2024 qualifying to follow.
Players to watch: Estonian defender Joonas Tamm has been instrumental in his nation’s back-to-back home league clean sheets, and he even helped his club side FCSB to a clean sheet against Anderlecht this month! Also performing in European club competition is Malta’s Teddy Teuma, who has contributed to four goals in his last three games for Union Gilloise across the Belgian Jupiler League and the Europa League.
Hot stat: Referee Daniel Siebert has shown 4.18 yellow cards per match on average across his 11 appointments this season.