Sports Mole previews Friday's European Championship qualifying clash between Iceland and Luxembourg, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Luxembourg will be bidding to move onto 13 points in their Euro 2024 qualification section when they travel to Iceland on Friday night.
The visitors have enjoyed a strong Group J campaign to date, sitting third in the table, three points behind second-placed Slovakia, while Iceland are fifth in the section on six points.
Match preview
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Iceland have struggled for consistency in Group J, winning two and losing four of their six matches in the section to collect six points, which has left them down in fifth position in the table.
Mathematically, Our Boys can still qualify for next summer's European Championship, but they would need an awful lot to go their way in the final stages of the section.
Age Hareide's side will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 11, with Alfred Finnbogason netting the only goal of the contest in the 91st minute, and the result ended a run of three straight losses in the group.
Iceland now have back-to-back home matches against Luxembourg and Liechtenstein during this international break before travelling to Slovakia and Portugal in their last two Group J matches next month.
The national side famously qualified for Euro 2016, reaching the quarter-finals of the competition, before competing at the 2018 World Cup, but they have been absent from the last two major tournaments.
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Luxembourg have never been present at the finals of a major tournament, but this is already their best return in terms of points during a qualification section for a World Cup.
An impressive campaign has seen them win three, draw one and lose two of their six matches to collect 10 points, which has left them in third spot in the table.
Luxembourg are just three points behind second-placed Slovakia, but they will enter this match off the back of a huge defeat, conceding nine unanswered goals to Portugal last time out.
The 9-0 defeat ended a run of three straight wins in the group, including a 3-1 success over Iceland in September, so they will be bidding to do a quick-fire double over their opponents here.
Luc Holtz's side have successive home games against Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina after this match, before finishing their campaign away to Liechtenstein on November 19, and it would be some story if the national side were able to claim a top-two position in the section.
Iceland Euro Champ Qualifying form:
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
Luxembourg Euro Champ Qualifying form:
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
Luxembourg form (all competitions):
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
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Iceland will have Finnbogason at the tip of their attack once again, with the 34-year-old scoring his 17th goal for the national team in the narrow success over Bosnia-Herzegovina last time out.
Burnley's Johann Berg Gudmundsson is a notable absentee through injury, but the captain Aron Gunnarsson is in the squad and should start on Friday.
Victor Palsson is set to continue in a defensive area for Iceland, while Iceland's need for three points means that there should also be starts for Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson and Hakon Arnar Haraldsson in an attacking lineup.
Luxembourg head coach Holtz, meanwhile, is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack despite the nine-goal loss to Portugal last time out.
The majority of the players who featured in the heavy defeat have served him well in the section, so the team is expected to be very similar for the contest on Friday.
There are goals in the squad, with Gerson Rodrigues netting 16 times for his country, while Danel Sinani has 12, and the latter is again expected to feature in a midfield area for Luxembourg.
Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Ingason, Palsson, Hermansson, Finnsson; Magnusson, Traustason, Gunnarsson, Thorsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson
Luxembourg possible starting lineup:
Moris; M Martins, Mahmutovic, Chanot, Pinto; Sinani, Barreiro, C Martins, Olesen, Sanches; Curci
We say: Iceland 1-1 Luxembourg
This is a really difficult match to call, as it is tough to know exactly what to expect from each side. It would not be a surprise to see a home or indeed an away win, but we just have a feeling that a cagey affair will end with the spoils being shared.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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