Both Luxembourg and Liechtenstein will be aiming to secure their first victories in Group J when they continue their Euro 2024 qualification campaigns with a clash on Saturday night.

The home side are currently fifth in the section, having picked up one point from their opening two matches, while Liechtenstein are bottom, losing both of their first two games.

Match preview

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Luxembourg have never qualified for the finals of a major international tournament, and they have not actually managed to win more than one qualification match in a campaign since 1996.

In their last six European Championship qualification campaigns, they have recorded just four victories, which is an indication of the size of their task when it comes to making an impression in Group J.

The Red Lions did manage to pick up an impressive point in their section opener against Slovakia on March 23, but they then suffered a 6-0 home defeat to Portugal three days later, with one point from two matches leaving them in fifth position in the group.

Luc Holtz's side will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Malta in a friendly on June 9, with their last victory proving to be a 1-0 success over Lithuania in the UEFA Nations League last September.

Luxembourg will view this game as the ideal chance to put three points on the board, and a positive result would lead them nicely into their next clash with Bosnia-Herzegovina next week.

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Liechtenstein, meanwhile, are rock bottom of the group on zero points, and it has been a tough start to their campaign, losing 4-0 to Portugal on March 23 before suffering a 7-0 home loss to Iceland three days later.

Konrad Funfstuck is now in charge of the country, with the German appointed manager at the start of June, and this contest will represent his first match at the helm.

The Blue-Reds have actually lost each of their last 15 games in all competitions, while they have not managed to avoid defeat since a 1-1 draw with Armenia in September 2021.

Liechtenstein's last victory of any kind was actually a 2-1 success over Luxembourg in a friendly back in October 2020, which should at least hand them some sort of confidence.

Unsurprisingly, the nation have never qualified for the finals of a major international tournament, and they failed to win a single game during their qualification campaign for Euro 2020.

Team News

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Luxembourg's squad is full of experience, with Laurent Jans set to captain the hosts from the middle of the defence, while Mainz 05's Leandro Barreiro, Spartak Moscow's Christopher Martins and Dynamo Kiev's Gerson Rodrigues are all important players for the team.

There should be another start in a wide position for 19-year-old Yvandro Borges Sanches, who plays his club football for Borussia Monchengladbach.

Norwich City's Danel Sinani should also retain his spot in the side, while 20-year-old Edin Dzogovic could earn just his third appearance for the national side at the back.

Liechtenstein, meanwhile, will again be captained by Nicolas Hasler on Saturday, with the experienced midfielder set to win his 94th cap for the national side in this contest.

Aron Sele could be used in an advanced area alongside Philipp Gassner, although Seyhan Yildiz is also pushing to be involved in the final third of the field.

Dennis Salanovic, who plays his club football in Spain, is the second-highest leading goalscorer in the squad behind Hasler (five) with four, which is an indication of the team's troubles.

Luxembourg possible starting lineup:
Moris; Bohnert, Jans, Carlson, Dzogovic; Sinani, Barreiro, Martins, Borges; Curci, Rodrigues

Liechtenstein possible starting lineup:
Buchel; Wolfinger, Malin, Traber, Hofer, Meier; Luchinger, Hasler, Goppel; Sele, Gassner

We say: Luxembourg 2-0 Liechtenstein

Luxembourg are not often the favourites heading into matches at this level, but that will be the case on Saturday. It is really difficult to make a case for Liechtenstein in this game, and we are expecting it to be a routine home success for Holtz's side.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Matt Law

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