Bosnia-Herzegovina will aim to maintain their standing at the top of League B Group 3 in the UEFA Nations League when Finland pay a visit to Zenica for Tuesday's encounter.

Ivaylo Petev's side were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in their weekend showdown with Montenegro, while the visitors' trip to Romania ended in a 1-0 loss.

Match preview

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Bosnia were swiftly ejected from League A in the Nations League without a single point to their name last term, but Petev's side are staking an early claim to return to the big time after an unbeaten start to life back in the second tier.

Keeping up their theme of scoring just the one goal over the course of 90 minutes, Bosnia struck first through substitute Luka Menalo just before the hour mark, but Adam Marusic restored parity for Montenegro to prevent Petev's men from steering further clear at the summit.

The world's 59th-ranked nation are still on course for a quick promotion as they lead the way with five points to their name, but all three sides below them are still within touching distance in the incredibly tightly-fought section ahead of September's reunion.

Bosnia have no World Cup to take into account after trying and failing miserably to force their way into Qatar contention, but Petev has at least now overseen a four-game unbeaten run in all competitions, even if only four of their last 26 games have ended in victory.

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Finland, meanwhile, have endured the true definition of a mixed start in the 2022-23 Nations League, but any hopes of a third unbeaten game on the spin were dashed upon their recent trip to Romania.

George Puscas may have missed an early chance to give Romania the lead from the spot, but he made no mistake in setting up Nicusor Bancu for the game's only goal in the 30th minute, and a relatively strong Finland side had no answer in Bucharest.

By winning one, drawing one and losing one in League B Group 3 so far, Finland occupy second place in the table at present, but the embryonic standings are arguably meaningless in a section as closely fought as theirs.

A first-ever qualification for the European Championships did not translate into an inaugural World Cup appearance for Markku Kanerva's side, who came so close yet so far to beating Bosnia on home soil earlier this month before Smail Prevljak rescued a point in the 93rd minute of the contest.

Team News

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Bosnia lost no players to injury or suspension during their recent draw with Montenegro, but winger Haris Duljevic was a notable absentee from the squad after picking up a booking against Romania.

Dino Hotic was sacrificed for Menalo on Saturday night and will expect to cede his place to the Dinamo Zagreb man from the off here, while Eldar Civic and Sead Kolasinac will continue their battle for the left-back spot.

Edin Dzeko did not last the full 90 minutes at the weekend and could therefore be fine to go again on Tuesday night, but Ermedin Demirovic is on standby.

In contrast, Finland's defensive ranks were thinned after Daniel O'Shaughnessy was forced off with a broken fibula in the loss to Romania, and the 27-year-old is expected to spend the next three months recovering.

Richard Jensen, Miro Tenho and Sauli Vaisanen are all on hand to cover for O'Shaughnessy this week, while Lukas Hradecky will aim to return in goal for the visitors.

With Kanerva urging one final push out of his players before the holidays commence, Pukki and Joel Pohjanpalo are likely to form their strike partnership once more.

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Sucic, Hadzikadunic, Ahmedhodzic, Civic; Gojak, Prcic, Pjanic, Menalo; Dzeko, Demirovic

Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Alho, Ivanov, Jensen, L. Vaisanen, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller; Lod; Pukki, Pohjanpalo

We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Finland

Low-scoring contests have been the theme in this group so far, and we can envisage a similar affair between two sides who could barely be separated in the last meeting and are hardly the most fearsome outfits on the attacking front.

Kanerva has plenty of options to cover for O'Shaughnessy in his defensively-minded setup, and an entire 90 minutes may go by without the net rippling once in this contest.

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