Following two defeats each in their opening UEFA Nations League fixtures, something must give when Faroe Islands and Lithuania go head to head on Saturday.

The outcome in Torshavn could well play a huge part in deciding who suffers relegation from Group C1, after both sides have failed to score a single goal during the 2022 campaign so far.

Match preview

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Following an unbeaten campaign in Group D1 of the 2020 Nations League, the Faroe Islands earned an impressive promotion to the third tier of the competition ahead of the 2022 edition.

However, the step up in quality has proved to be a step too far for Saturday's hosts as things stand.

As mentioned above, the Faroe Islands have lost each of their opening two games over the course of the past week, failing to score in either encounter.

Beginning with a heavy 4-0 defeat to group favourites Turkey in Istanbul was to be expected, but manager Hakan Ericson will have expected more from his side when they hosted Luxembourg on Tuesday evening.

The odds were slightly in their opponent's favour anyway, but little else could have gone wrong for Ericson's men during their 1-0 defeat.

Rene Shaki Joensen saw red midway through the second half for a professional foul as the last man, before Gerson Rodrigues converted from the spot for the visitors just seven minutes later.

Solvi Vatnhamar then became the second Faroe Islands player to receive his marching order 10 minutes from time to round off a miserable evening, but Ericson will be expecting his team to get their Nations League campaign up and running when they welcome fellow strugglers Lithuania to Torshavn on Saturday.

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Meanwhile, as previously alluded to, Lithuania have also suffered a disappointing opening week to their 2022 Nations League campaign.

Like their hosts at the weekend, Lithuania have also been on the receiving end of two defeats without finding the back of the net themselves.

First, Valdas Ivanauskas's men were downed 2-0 at home to Luxembourg on the opening matchday, before being humiliated in a 6-0 thrashing to Turkey on Tuesday.

After falling 2-0 behind to a Dogukan Sinik brace inside the opening 14 minutes, Ivanauskas's side had recovered well to keep the scoreline as it was for the remainder of the first half, but after Serdar Dursun found a third from the penalty spot before the hour mark, Lithuania collapsed late on as pride and energy levels drained from their players.

Like the Faroe Islands, a much-improved performance and result will be targeted on Saturday, with each side viewing the other as the perfect opponent in Group C1 to kickstart their campaign.

Promotion was never a likely option from the third tier with a hugely-talented Turkey side within the group, but avoiding relegation to League D will be the priority when these two struggling nations take to the field here.

Team News

Following their red cards last time out, Joensen and Solvi Vatnhamar will sit out Saturday's encounter for the Faroe Islands.

The latter's brother, Gunnar Vatnhamar, will likely be joined by captain Hallur Hansson in the centre of the pitch instead, who should drop deeper from his forward role occupied against Luxembourg last time out.

With no obvious backup to Joensen at right-back, Gilli Rolantsson will likely drop deeper from his right-wing role, with Mads Mikkelsen in contention to earn only his third cap for his country in the wide role as a result.

As for the visitors, changes are to be expected to their starting lineup following their hammering on Tuesday evening at the hands of Turkey.

Veteran defender Saulius Mikoliunas may be rested at right-back on Saturday after playing the full 90 minutes in midweek, which would deny him his 99th cap for his country should he miss out.

Rolandas Baravykas is in line to deputise for him in the back four, whilst Augustinas Klimavicius may well be rotated with Karolis Laukzemis in attack once more.

After missing out on the opening game, and having to settle for a substitute appearance on Tuesday, Fedor Cernych could be in line to start here, which would be his 75th cap for Lithuania.

Faroe Islands possible starting lineup:
Nielsen; Rolantsson, Faero, Askham, Davidsen; Mikkelsen, G Vatnhamar, Hansson, M Olsen; Johannesen, K Olsen

Lithuania possible starting lineup:
Setkus; Baravykas, Satkus, Klimavicius, Barauskas; Slivka, Megelaitis; Cernych, Golubickas, Novikovas; Klimavicius

We say: Faroe Islands 1-0 Lithuania

There is unlikely to be too many goals in this Group C1 encounter on Saturday, with both sides lacking a severe amount of quality and confidence heading into their meeting.

We are predicting that the Faroe Islands will edge out their visitors by a narrow margin though, courtesy of home advantage providing them with a slight edge.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Matthew Tranter

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