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Albania vs Turkey Prediction & Betting tips
Friday evening at 19:45 group G of the European Championship qualification starts. France, Iceland, Albania, Turkey, Moldova and Andorra are in this group. The first two go ahead, so on paper the second place seems to go between Turkey and Iceland. Can outsider Albania win a victory in its own country or can Turkey take three points?
Albania:
Albania disappointed in the Nations League. They were in a pool with Scotland and Israel. Albania started the competition well with a win at home against Israel. After that, the Albanians lost quite a chance in the remaining three games. They were last in the group, but since their group consisted of three countries instead of four, there was no direct relegation. Only the worst number three of all groups in division C would be relegated. Cyprus had achieved only one point, so that Albania managed to maintain itself in division C.
The last match was a friendly match at home against Wales. The Welshmen lacked sharpness in the completion. Ryan Giggs saw that this fight was not just won and to make matters worse he received the 1-0 in the 59th minute. He brought in Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, but it wasn’t enough. The Albanians managed to win again and caused a stunt in this friendly game.
Albania does not have a strong team, especially offensive it leaves something to be desired. In the whole of 2018, only three goals were scored and as a result, only two of the nine games were won. Albanian right back Elseid Hysaj is the most experienced player of the team. He is in Napoli’s base almost every week. There are also some reliable players in midfield, but the attack is the most vulnerable. Bekim Balaj is likely to be at the point of the attack Friday night, but he lacks scoring ability. He only made his first goal of the season last week in the Russian league. There are some changes compared to the Nations League. Thomas Strakosha from Lazio was unable to make his flight to Albania due to the busy traffic in Rome. Although he was still under the bar in the Nations League, he was removed from the selection for the next two games on Wednesday evening. Captain Mërgim Mavraj is also missing due to a suspension.
Turkey:
Turkey will also play in division C next season. The Nations League also did not run smoothly for the Turks. Like Albania, they managed to win only one match in a difficult pool with Sweden and Russia. The practice international came through Turkey unbeaten, but it was not convincing. Two games were won and a draw was played five times.
The last match was one of those matches that ended in a draw. In Antalya, the Turkish team had to take on Ukraine a few months ago. They scored twice, but the goal was rejected twice. In the first half, they thought they had opened the scoring, but the referee had seen a foul. In the second half it was about offside. Both teams still had a lot of opportunities, but almost every shot went wide.
Turkey is struggling with the same problem as Albania, because they also have difficulty scoring. With the experienced Yunus Malli and young talents Enes Ünal and Cengiz Ünder as an attack line, they have three players who play in top competitions, but they do not often find the net there either. Defensively, the team looks really good. They have not had one match more than 2 goals in 2018. Yet it is not the most reliable team to bet on and certainly not in this state. Turkey is weakened and misses five players because of an injury. This opens doors for new talent. There are seven players in the selection who can debut for their country. It remains to be seen how this will turn out.
Albania vs Turkey head to head matches
13.11.17 FI Turkey Albania 2 : 3
12.10.05 WC Albania Turkey 0 : 1
26.03.05 WC Turkey Albania 2 : 0
24.04.01 FI Turkey Albania 0 : 2
10.05.83 EUR Albania Turkey 1 : 1