Denmark will be looking to maintain their 100% start to World Cup qualifying when they travel to the Faroe Islands on Saturday evening.
The Danes are one of only three European nations yet to concede during their qualification campaign so far, while the hosts have let in 12 goals already in their first four matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
After claiming their biggest ever international victory in a friendly against Lichtenstein, winning 5-1 in June, the Faroe Islands were brought back down to earth with a 4-0 defeat at home against Israel on Wednesday.
That defeat was their third from their opening four World Cup qualifiers and leaves Hakan Ericson's side only above Moldova in Group F on goal difference and six points adrift of Israel in second place.
Saturday's game with Denmark is the second of three home matches for the Faroe Islands during September's international break. In three of their previous four meetings with the Scandinavian side, they have conceded four goals.
Ericson's men accumulated nine points in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the most they have ever registered in a qualification campaign, and if they are to get anywhere near this total again they will need to start picking up points quickly.
© Reuters
Denmark have been the standout European nation during the World Cup qualifiers, winning all four of their matches by an aggregate score of 16-0.
A 2-0 win in Israel was followed by the 8-0 demolition of Moldova, before Kasper Hjulmand's side cruised to a 4-0 victory in Austria. Their most recent result was a 2-0 win at home against Scotland in front of over 30,000 jubilant Danish supporters on Wednesday night.
Denmark, unsurprisingly, sit top of Group F and five points clear of their nearest challengers Israel and Austria. The Red and White have qualified for four of the last six World Cup tournaments and are on course to reach the competition in Qatar next year.
Hjulmand's men make the trip to Torshavn on Saturday, looking to extend their unbeaten away record across all competitions to seven matches.
Ranked by FIFA as the seventh highest European nation, ahead of the likes of Germany and the Netherlands, Denmark will be confident in securing another three points on their travels, against a nation ranked 103 places below them.
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Ericson used a 4-5-1 formation in each of his last two fixtures, which saw his side claim contrasting results against Liechtenstein and Israel. The 61-year-old head coach is, however, expected to stick with this system on Saturday.
Klaemint Olsen, who is just three goals away from becoming the nation's all-time leading scorer, is set to start again as the lone striker.
As defender Rogvi Baldvinsson has pulled out of the squad through injury, Dundalk centre-back Sonni Nattestad is set to start in the heart of the defence alongside Odmar Faero.
Denmark, meanwhile, will be without Martin Braithwaite, Kasper Dolberg, Jannik Vestergaard, Philip Billing and Nicolai Boilesen due to injury.
Wass and Maehle, who both scored in midweek, are expected to keep their places in the side as the wing-backs, with ever-present central midfielders Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney also set to start once again.
The only possible changes that could be made to Hjulmand's side are in attack, with the likes of Jonas Wind and Mohamed Daramy pushing to start ahead of Yussuf Poulsen and Andreas Skov Olsen.
Faroe Islands possible starting lineup:
Nielsen; Sorensen, Faero, Nattestad, Davidsen; S. Vatnhamar, Hansson, Andreasen, Hendriksson, M. Olsen; K. Olsen
Denmark possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Christensen, Kjaer, Anderson; Wass, Delaney, Hojbjerg, Maehle; Damsgaard, Poulsen, Wind
We say: Faroe Islands 0-3 Denmark
Everything points towards a comfortable victory for Denmark, who should have no problems in maintaining their perfect record in qualifying.
The Danes are yet to concede a goal so far in Group F and we can see them keeping another clean sheet on the road against the Faroe Islands.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Denmark win with a probability of 63.69%. A draw had a probability of 23.1% and a win for Faroe Islands had a probability of 13.18%.
The most likely scoreline for a Denmark win was 0-1 with a probability of 16.52%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (14.14%) and 1-2 (8.85%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.34%), while for a Faroe Islands win it was 1-0 (6.05%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 16.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Denmark in this match.
