Latvia vs Albania prediction: EUROPE: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-06-09 18:45.
[p]Latvia held Azerbaijan to a goalless draw in a friendly on Saturday, which marked a third scoring failure in five matches. As they chase the dream of reaching their first-ever World Cup finals, a win here over Albania would see them leapfrog their opponents into the play-off spot of their qualifying group. That would significantly boost the morale of the 11 Wolves, who were consigned to the UEFA Nations League relegation play-offs after finishing bottom of Group C4 last November. [/p]
[p]A run of two wins in their last eight competitive matches (D1, L5) doesn’t inspire confidence, especially as both victories came against sides currently ranked below them. Manager Paolo Nicolato has his work cut out ahead of Latvia’s first home game of this qualification campaign, as they lost four of their five such World Cup qualifiers (WCQs) in attempting to reach the 2022 tournament (W1), although three of those were only by a single-goal margin.[/p]
[p]Rey Manaj’s failure to convert a penalty in a 0-0 draw against fierce rivals Serbia on Saturday kept Albania five points adrift of group leaders England and clinging on to their spot in the play-offs. Sylvinho has already led the Red and Blacks to the 2024 European Championships, no doubt raising hopes among the squad that they can now make it to their first-ever World Cup, with the possibility of breathing more life into their top-two bid with a win here. [/p]
[p]That would require an improvement in recent results though, as the Albanians have won just one of their last five matches (D2, L2), failing to score in three of those fixtures. That was also the case in two of their three most recent trips, while the Balkans may be hard-pressed to earn a positive result in Riga, having conceded exactly twice in four of their last six away outings (W2, D1, L3), including neutral venues.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Jānis Ikaunieks could prove instrumental in helping Latvia earn all three points, as four of his last five international goals have come in three victories (L1). Armando Broja could be Albania’s talisman, as his three career goals in WCQs have all contributed to wins.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Albania have kept a first-half clean sheet in seven of their last nine WCQs, including their latest two in this campaign.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar B[/i][/p]