A thrilling contest could be on the cards as Moldova host Cyprus in an international friendly on Saturday. Neither team has been at their best lately, so while goals could be expected here, the Moldovans are likely to have the upper hand at home.
Moldova may not be going to the European Championship but they will take some positives from their qualifying campaign. Sergiu Clescenco's men picked up two wins and two draws from eight matches and did not finish at the bottom of the group.
The Moldovans head into Saturday’s clash off the back of a 4-0 victory over Cayman Islands in their previous fixture. They are also unbeaten in six of their last eight home matches across all competitions, with a 3-2 victory over Poland among their results in that run.
Cyprus are also not going to the European Championship but their qualifying campaign was much worse than Moldova’s. They lost all eight of their matches and finished at the bottom of the standings.
The Cypriots were beaten 1-0 at home by Serbia in their previous fixture, their eighth defeat in the last 10 matches across all competitions. Temur Ketsbaia’s men have also been poor travellers and are winless in 21 of their last 22 matches, suffering 17 defeats in that run.
How the bookies view it: Moldova fancied
Moldova have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 21/20 by bet365 to claim the win. An unlikely victory for Cyprus is valued at 21/10 while a draw is set at odds of 5/2.
Head to head: Moldovans are up
Moldova claimed a 3-2 victory over Cyprus in the only meeting between both sides back in 2011.
Players to watch: Eyes on Nicolaescu
Ion Nicolaescu is often the attacking threat for Moldova and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The striker has three goals in the last four home matches and is priced at 11/5 by bet365 to get on the score sheet once again.
Cyprus will be keen to take advantage of Moldova’s shaky defence and will look to Ioannis Pittas to provide the spark in attack. He often leads the line for the Cypriots and is priced at 3/1 by bet365 to find the net on Saturday.
Probable line-ups
Ion Nicolaescu and Victor Bogaciuc were both on target for Moldova off the bench last time out and could be handed starts on Saturday.
As always Ioannis Pittas is expected to lead the line for Cyprus while Danilo Spoljaric is also likely to feature in midfield.
Moldova: Avram, Revenco, Craciun, Baboglo, Posmac, Reabciuk, Bogaciuc, Rata, Caimacov, Motpan, Nicolaescu
Cyprus: Panagi, Lafis, Karo, Ardreou, Kousoulos, Spoljaric, Kyriakou, Gogic, Charlampous, Loizou, Pittas
Anything else catch the eye?
Both defences have been unconvincing in recent times and could be set to serve up goals on Saturday. Over 2.5 goals could be considered at odds of 6/5 with bet365.
This International Friendly match between Moldova and Cyprus will be played on and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Moldova vs Cyprus prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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