Fresh from their first victory of the World Cup qualifiers, Lithuania host Switzerland in a Group C fixture. The Swiss team are still unbeaten in the qualifiers and will be targeting a win as they continue their chase of top spot.
Lithuania earned their first win of the qualifiers as they saw off Bulgaria in their previous fixture. They took the lead through Justas Lasickas before Fyodor Chernykh netted a brace late in the second half.
Claiming their first win in the qualifiers will give manager Valdas Ivanauskas plenty of heart and confidence ahead of the visit of Switzerland. However, defeats in the previous five matches, including a 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture means they are likely to find things difficult on Wednesday.
Lithuania also have one of the worst defences in the group and have conceded 14 times in just six matches so far.
Switzerland travel to Lithuania off the back of a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland last time out in the qualifiers. Steven Zuber opened the scoring right on the stroke of halftime while Christian Fassnacht added the second in injury time.
The result means Switzerland have now closed the gap on Group C leaders Italy to three points ahead of Tuesday’s match. Vladimir Petkovic’s men are unbeaten in the qualifiers with three wins from five matches and are strong favourites to at least claim a playoff place.
Switzerland’s qualifying campaign has been built on a solid defence that has conceded just once in the qualifiers. In fact, since conceding in their opening fixture against Bulgaria, the Swiss have gone on to keep four straight clean sheets in the qualifiers heading into Tuesday’s match.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have Switzerland as overwhelming favourites at 1/5 with Unibet. A victory for Lithuania is valued at 13/1 by Vbet while betway is also offering odds of 11/2 for a draw.
Head to head
Switzerland have won all three previous matches against Lithuania, including a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in March.
Players to watch
Switzerland have plenty of quality in attack with Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo and Steven Zuber all among the goals lately. The Swiss have scored in two of their three home matches in the qualifiers and are tipped to score in Lithuania at 1/25 with Vbet.
The Swiss have also impressed defensively, keeping clean sheets in their last four qualifying matches. Nico Elvedi and Manuel Akanji have partnered in centre-back in recent times and can guide the team to another clean sheet at 4/6 with Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
Switzerland won to nil in the reverse fixture and could be set for a similar result at 4/5 with betway. They are expected to earn a comfortable victory and can be backed in the -2 handicap market at 13/8 with Vbet.
Switzerland won both halves in their previous fixture and a similar outcome is priced at 7/4 by Paddy Power.
This World Cup match between Lithuania and Switzerland will be played on Oct 12, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Lithuania vs Switzerland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.