The red and blacks want redemption
From Sunday to Tuesday, the final matchday of the regular World Cup qualifiers will be played in Europe. For some teams, the World Cup train has long since left the station, but interesting betting opportunities can still arise in these matches. One such case is the duel between Albania and Andorra.
The two teams have one thing in common. This does not mean that both countries start with an A, but that both teams had a disastrous first half last Friday. Albania slid into a 0:5 debacle in England, Andorra conceded one of the fastest sending-offs in history after only twelve seconds.
Andorra will not finish last in Group I of qualifying after winning both underdog duels against San Marino. Otherwise, however, there were exclusively defeats, probably also on Monday in Tirana. For Albania against Andorra, betting odds around 1.18 are offered for a home win.
It should be mentioned here that the match is being played in camera. In the 1-0 defeat against Poland, plastic bottles flew in the direction of Lewandowski & Co, after which the game was interrupted for almost 20 minutes. As a punishment, the red and black team was given a one-match ban.
Albania – Statistics & current form
The red and black entered the big football stage for the first time with their surprising participation in the 2016 European Championship. Despite the preliminary round exit, Albania convinced with a lot of passion and a victory at that time. However, their participation in the 2016 European Championship has been an exception so far.
Reja with best points average
In recent qualifiers, Albania have always been a long way from repeating that success and yet Italian head coach Edoardo Reja is Albania’s all-time winningest coach with more than a handful of games to his name.
Reja joined the red-and-blacks in mid-2019 and has since played 26 international matches, looking back on a positive record. A dozen matches have been won, compared to ten defeats. Just four games ended in a draw. However, there have not been any draws in the current qualifying campaign, because champagne or seltzer is the motto here. Albania have won four and lost five of their matches.
Inferior first half at Wembley
Even before their appearance at Wembley Stadium, Albania had no chance of making it to the World Cup for the first time. Nevertheless, there should be no lack of motivation in such a match, but especially in the first 45 minutes Albania presented itself as weak as it has not been for many years.
Albania were shown up by England and were already trailing 0:5 at half-time. Fortunately, Southgate’s side took it easy in the second half and goalkeeper Strakhosha did not concede another goal. This means that in Albania’s last five international matches, the bet has been right that both teams will not score. This is certainly also a good bet for Albania against Andorra, as is the bet on the favourite to win nil.
Predicted line-up of Albania:
Strakosha – Kumbulla, Ismajli, Veseli – Trashi, Bare, Gjasula, Hysaj – Uzuni, Bajrami – Cikalleshi
Last matches played by Albania:
WM Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. I
11/12 2021 – England 5 – 0 Albania
10/12 2021 – Albania 0 – 1 Poland
10/09 2021 – Hungary 0 – 1 Albania
09/08 2021 – Albania 5 – 0 San Marino
09/05 2021 – Albania 1 – 0 Hungary
Andorra – Statistics & current form
The first time Andorra played an international match was in 1996, which they lost 1:6 against Estonia. In the meantime, a total of 184 international matches can be found in the database, with the blatant underdogs having to admit defeat 152 times. On the success side, there have been nine international victories so far. For only the second time in Andorran football history, the national team was able to celebrate two victories in one calendar year.
In 2017, in addition to a 2:o victory against San Marino, they also managed a sensational 1:0 victory against Hungary. This year, Koldo’s side have beaten San Marino on both occasions and have a clean sheet (7-0 goals, three wins) against the underdogs. Andorra will thus finish the current group in fifth place, which can undoubtedly be seen as a relative success.
Incredible sending off
In the last home game of the year, Andorra hosted Poland and unintentionally delivered headlines in the process. Kick-off, long ball forward, “Cucu” (Ricard Fernandez) went one-on-one with Kamil Glik and caught him with his elbow. At this point, only ten seconds had been played. The referee interpreted this as intentional and sent the striker off.
The hopeless task thus became even more difficult. In view of the 90-minute shortage, the goal (from a directly converted free kick) and the final result were already a great success for the glaring underdogs. Nevertheless, Andorra have lost six of their eleven international matches in the 2021 calendar year by at least a three-goal difference.
The history shows that especially in away matches, many goals have to be conceded (256 in 84 matches, “only” 171 in 75 home matches). Accordingly, the forecast for Albania against Andorra is a high home win.
Predicted line-up of Andorra:
Alvarez – Cervos, Alavedra, Llovera, San Nicolas – Vieira, Clemente, Vales, Alaez – Pujol, Rosas
Last matches played by Andorra:
World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. I
11/12 2021 – Andorra 1 – 4 Poland
10/12 2021 – San Marino 0 – 3 Andorra
10/09 2021 – Andorra 0 – 5 England
09/08 2021 – Hungary 2 – 1 Andorra
09/05 2021 – England 4 – 0 Andorra
Albania – Andorra Direct comparison / H2H record
Albania is one of those teams against whom Andorra have celebrated a victory before. Almost 20 years ago, in April 2002, the glaring underdog Andorra celebrated a surprising 2-0 victory over Albania. There is also a surprise to be found in the nearer past, as Andorra achieved a remarkable 2-2 draw in Albania in the course of qualifying for the last European Championship. Albania won the current first leg 1-0 at the end of March.
Albania – Andorra Tip
Although the hosts no longer have a chance of securing a World Cup ticket, there is no denying the difference in class in this clash. However, the red-and-blacks are well warned, as the recent duels were not self-sufficient. After the poor performance at Wembley Stadium, they will now have to make amends, even if the fans will only be able to watch on TV. For Albania’s home win against Andora, the odds for a prediction are a maximum of 1.18.
For a lucrative winning opportunity, other betting options definitely need to be considered. The home side’s win to nil has already been mentioned above (this has been the case in all four of Albania’s wins against Andorra). Even more interesting between Albania and Andorra seems the bet on Albania -2.5 goals.
