We said: Moldova 2-0 Malta
Malta struggle in the final third and start off slowly, having scored just one first-half goal in their last 22 outings, and they could find it tough against a Moldova side which should be full of confidence after their results over the past 12 months.
The wheels came off slightly for the hosts after they missed out on Euro 2024, but being back in competitive action should see them raise their game as favourites to win the group.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Moldova win with a probability of 65.78%. A draw had a probability of 19.4% and a win for Malta had a probability of 14.87%.
The most likely scoreline for a Moldova win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.86%) and 1-0 (9.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.1%), while for a Malta win it was 1-2 (4.2%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Moldova in this match.