European minnows Gibraltar and Andorra will be seeking to end 2022 on a positive note when they face off at Victoria Stadium on Saturday.
While the hosts have recently slipped to 204th in the FIFA world rankings, the visitors currently sit 53 places higher after rising to 151st in the standings.
Match preview
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Gibraltar ended a 23-game run without a win when they secured a 2-0 victory against 10-man Liechtenstein in a friendly on Wednesday, their biggest-ever win since becoming a member of FIFA in 2013.
The British Overseas Territory's previous six victories across their brief nine-year history were all by one-goal margins, but strikes from 39-year-old Roy Chipolina and Liam Walker within the first 21 minutes steered them to a historic victory on home soil, which was also their third against Liechtenstein.
Spirts are high among Gibraltar's camp at present and they now head into Saturday's contest seeking to claim back-to-back wins for the first time since October 2018
Julio Cesar Ribas's side have only previously faced Andorra once before when they played out a goalless stalemate in a friendly encounter in June last year.
Gibraltar could become more familiar with their upcoming opponents in the years to come as they are at risk of dropping down into the same UEFA Nations League group following their fourth-placed finish in League C in September; a relegation play-out in March next year will determine their fate.
Indeed, the Nations League has been a beneficial competition for Andorra, who won two and drew two of their six fixtures in League D, albeit finishing in third place and five points behind Latvia who won promotion.
The Tricolours began 2022 with successive 1-0 friendly victories against St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada in March, and they will now be keen to end the year on a high with a win against Gibraltar in a game they will be regarded as slight favourites.
Andorra head to Victoria Stadium off the back of a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Austria on Wednesday. Substitute Marko Arnautovic netting an 87th-minute winner for the visitors, but Koldo Alvarez will have taken plenty of positives from the game after holding a nation ranked 121 places above them for the vast majority of the match.
Andorra and Gibraltar will face off against each other in their final fixture until March next year when they enter the qualification stage for Euro 2024.
Team News
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Gibraltar boss Ribas is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup following Wednesday's win over Liechtenstein.
Seventeen-year-old Cadiz midfielder Nicholas Pozo came off the bench to earn his third international cap against Austria and he will be pushing to start on Saturday ahead of Blackburn Rovers' Louie Annesley.
Walker, who has contributed to three goals in his last five internationals (two goals and one assist), is set to continue in the front three alongside Lee Casciaro and Tjay De Barr.
As for Andorra, 117-cap captain Marcio Vieira is suspended following his late dismissal against Austria, and Jordi Rubio is the most likely candidate to replace him in centre-midfield.
Ricard Fernandez and Alex Martinez have only scored a goal each for their country, but the pair are set to continue their partnership in attack.
Gibraltar possible starting lineup:
Coleing; Sergeant, Lopes, Chipolina, Olivero; Torrilla, Annesley, Britto; Casciaro, De Barr, Walker
Andorra possible starting lineup:
Alvarez; Je. Rubio, Guillen, Llovera, Alavedra, Garcia; Rebes, Jo. Rubio, Cervos; Fernandez, Martinez
We say: Gibraltar 1-1 Andorra
Both nations rarely head into games that they have a genuine chance of winning, but Saturday's clash is one that they can head into with optimism as they bid to finish the year with a positive result.
Nevertheless, there is little to separate these two sides and a low-scoring draw could be on the cards.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
