Lithuania vs Malta prediction

Lithuania is not expected to put up a fight for a spot in the World Cup, regardless of how many teams are allowed to enter.

Before embarking on their World Cup qualification campaign, Lithuania participated in the Nations League like all other teams. To say they struggled would be an understatement. Edgaras Jankauskas's men lost all six matches, placing them at the bottom of their group and leading to their relegation to League D. Sure, competing against Romania was a tough nut to crack, but it's surprising they didn't put up more of a fight against Kosovo and especially Cyprus, where they could have realistically chased the second spot. However, Lithuania managed to lose twice to both teams.

It was heartening to give many young players a shot in the qualifiers, and it hasn't gone too badly. Initially, they suffered a narrow away defeat to Poland (0-1), followed by a high-scoring draw at home against Finland (2-2), where they came back from 0-2 down. Unfortunately, a win against Malta remained elusive, ending in a 0-0 draw. It fits the expression, "The game was equal,"—as goes the saying, neither side deserved all three points in that encounter.

Their most recent outing was a friendly against Denmark, which saw no surprises, ending in a 0-5 defeat.

Malta is on a similar level to Lithuania, so there weren't any sky-high expectations for them either.

The Maltese fell just short of being promoted from League D to League C in the Nations League, losing only to Moldova (0-2) in the first round. They then managed victories against Andorra (1-0) and the Moldovans (1-0). However, a draw against Andorra (0-0) prevented them from topping their group.

In one of their friendly encounters, they comfortably handled Liechtenstein at home with a 2-0 victory.

As for World Cup qualification, the draw against Lithuania (0-0) remains their only positive result. Against Finland and Poland, they avoided severe losses, managing to keep the scorelines to 0-1 and 0-2, respectively. When visiting the Netherlands, hopes were high to avoid humiliation. Sadly, the final score spoke volumes—0-8!

Credit must be given to Emilio De Leo's side, as they can not only compete with teams on a similar level but also record victories. This is evident from their matches against Moldova, Andorra, and Liechtenstein. The idea of qualifying playoffs isn't in the cards, but they certainly have what it takes to fight Lithuania to avoid finishing last.