Kazakhstan host Denmark for their second European Championship qualifier of the week on Sunday afternoon.

Magomed Adiev's eastern European side opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Slovenia, while Denmark lead the group at this embryonic stage of the qualification process after easing to a 3-1 win over Finland on Thursday.

Match preview

Maksim Samorodov gave Kazakhstan a first-half lead against Slovenia on the artificial playing surface of the country's national stadium, crashing the ball off the underside of the crossbar with a close-range header that marked his first senior international goal.

However, their in-form visitors rallied after the break, equalising through half-time substitute David Brekalo before Zan Vipotnik came off the bench himself to calmly guide a volley beyond Igor Shatskiy, silencing a packed Astana Arena.

Slovenia became the first team to defeat Kazakhstan in Astana since a Teemu Pukki brace inspired Finland - another upcoming opponent in this year's qualifiers - to victory in the capital 17 months ago.

Adiev's side have largely been on an upward trajectory since the Russian coach took over last April, topping a Nations League group containing Azerbaijan, Slovakia and Belarus to secure passage into the second tier of the competition, where they could meet the likes of Wales or England.

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After such a disappointing World Cup, Denmark kicked off qualification for Euro 2024 in the best way possible, but the 3-1 win over Finland at Parken Stadium in midweek was anything but routine.

Atalanta's jet-heeled forward Rasmus Hojlund scored a hat-trick for the Danes, but his side were level at 1-1 going into the final 10 minutes as Oliver Antman capitalised upon one simple long ball after the break to cancel out Hojlund's first-half opener; however, the 20-year-old Copenhagen-born striker put his earlier misses behind him to find the net twice more and earn Denmark three crucial points.

The Danes may have failed to win a game at the World Cup - or even take the lead - but Kasper Hjulmand has crafted his side into a formidable qualification outfit; Denmark won nine of their 10 World Cup qualifiers, conceding just three goals, and they did not lose a single match while qualifying for Euro 2020.

If Denmark can navigate their way through their latest qualification group, they will reach a fourth consecutive major tournament for just the second time in the history of the men's national team.

Kazakhstan are far less experienced - the national team did not play their first match until June 1992, the same month that Denmark won the European Championships - and are yet to qualify for a major tournament in their modern guise.

Team News

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Right-back Marat Bystrov had his 17th international cap cut short through injury when he limped off in the closing stages of Kazakhstan's defeat to Slovenia.

Veteran goalkeeper Shatskiy spent the first four years of his international career on the bench but has emerged as Kazakhstan's undisputed number one in the past 18 months; the last time the 33-year-old missed a match, his side were humiliatingly thumped 8-0 by France in November 2021.

Andreas Christensen only lasted 18 minutes in Denmark's victory over Finland before limping off on Thursday, placing his availability just three days later very much in doubt.

The defensive issues do not stop there for Denmark; Crystal Palace centre-back Joachim Andersen was forced to pull out of the Danish camp after failing to recover from a problem he picked up during the warm-up for his side's Premier League visit to Arsenal last Sunday.

Victor Nelsson is expected to replace Christensen in Denmark's defence, but the added absence of Andersen may prevent Hjulmand from matching Kazakhstan's three centre-back system, a tactic the flexible Danish coach regularly deploys to combat the extra width opposition wing-backs provide.

Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:
Shatskiy; Gabyshev, Erlanov, Marochkin, Maliy, Vorogovskiy; Orazov, Darabaev, Tagybergen, Samorodov; Aymbetov

Denmark possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Bah, Kjaer, Nelsson, Maehle; Jensen, Norgaard, Hojbjerg; Damsgaard; Hojlund, Wind

We say: Kazakhstan 1-2 Denmark

All four previous matches between these nations have ended in the same outcome; victory for Denmark - with Kazakhstan sitting 98 places below their imminent visitors, there is not a great deal of evidence to suggest their losing streak in this fixture will come to an end on Sunday.


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