Latvia will be looking to make it two wins from two at the beginning of their UEFA Nations League campaign in Group D1 when they host Liechtenstein at the Daugava Stadium on Monday evening.
The hosts got off to a perfect start with a win over Andorra on Friday, and they will be expected to follow that up with another when they welcome another inferior outfit on paper in Riga.
Match preview
Despite the 3-0 scoreline appearing to be a comfortable victory for Latvia on Friday, it certainly did not reflect the balance of play for much of the encounter in Riga.
Dainis Kazakevics's side held an undeserved 1-0 lead heading into the break following Roberts Uldrikis's opener just nine minutes in, with their visitors regularly troubling Pavels Steinbors's goal during the first half.
However, a much tighter second 45 was played out by Latvia and they regained the expected control, although they were made to wait until the final 13 minutes to find two further goals and kill off the tie.
Monday's hosts will be expected to do the same once again in front of their own supporters, in order to get off to the perfect start in Group D1.
Moldova provide the other test for Kazakevics's side in their quest for promotion, which looks a far more achievable goal this time around after picking up just seven points in the 2020 campaign against Andorra, Malta and the Faroe Islands.
As for the visitors, as expected, their 2022 Nations League campaign began with defeat on Friday evening.
Martin Stocklasa's side were downed 2-0 on home soil by Moldova at the Rheinpark Stadion, despite putting in a brave defensive display.
Proceedings could not have started much worse however, with Ion Nicolaescu netting from the penalty spot for the visitors inside five minutes, but Liechtenstein managed to keep themselves in the encounter until the closing stages.
Vadim Bolohan sealed the points for Moldova in second-half stoppage time though, which condemned Monday's visitors to a seventh straight defeat in internationals since picking up a memorable 1-1 draw in Armenia back in September.
In fact, that draw in Yerevan remains the only fixture that Liechtenstein have avoided defeat in over their last 15 outings, and is just one of three goals that they have scored during that time.
However, Stocklasa's men will once again take to the field on Monday with pride in representing their country, and although they will not be expected to halt their run of defeats, they will certainly display plenty of fight and desire in their attempts to pick up a memorable result once again.
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Team News
Following the impressive result on Friday, and despite several moments of struggle, Kazakevics looks likely to name an unchanged starting 11 here.
Vitalijs Maksimenko and Freiburg's Daniels Ontuzans were unable to make the squad due to injury, but the Latvia boss has no fresh injury concerns to contend with as things stand.
After netting two goals last time out, Uldrikis should support Vladislavs Gutkovskis in attack once again.
As for the visitors, goals are certainly hard to come by throughout their squad, with just 14 between them in international fixtures.
Five of those have been scored by captain Nicolas Hasler, and he will support one, or both, of the brothers Yanik Frick and Noah Frick in attack on Monday.
Latvia possible starting lineup:
Steinbors; Savalnieks, Cernomordijs, Dubra, Jurkovskis; Ikaunieks, Tobers, Zjuzins, Ciganiks; Uldrikis; Gutkovskis
Liechtenstein possible starting lineup:
Buchek; Grunenfelder, Malin, Wolfinger; Yildiz, Sele, Luchinger, Meier; N Frick, Hasler; Y Frick
We say: Latvia 3-0 Liechtenstein
Latvia will be expected to cruise to back-to-back wins in the Nations League when they take to the field against the minnows of Liechtenstein on Monday.
We are going for a repeat of the 3-0 scoreline achieved against Andorra last time out, although it should be a far more comfortable task this time around.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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