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International Preview: Estonia - Malta
What: International Friendly
Who: Estonia vs Malta
When: Wednesday 20 August 18:00 CET
Where: A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia
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Aug 20, 2008 8:33:33 AM
CLASH OF THE MINNOWS
Two of Europe's weakest sides will be clashing against each other on Wednesday as they prepare for their upcoming World Cup group games in September.
Both sides have improved in recent years and recent results confirm this trend, with the home team unbeaten in their last three home games, whereas the away side have obtained prestigious wins against Liechtenstein (7-1) and Iceland (1-0) in recent months.
Estonia start as favourites for this clash due to many factors. They will be playing with their full squad, with the only missing player being first team defender Stepanov.
Another good reason why the bookmakers are placing the home team as favourites is the fact that the Estonian league is currently midway through the season, whereas the Maltese league has yet to kick-off, therefore Estonia will have its players in good physical form.
Piiroja sounded confident during the press conference and promised that Estonia will be giving their best shot to win in order to be ready for their World Cup Qualifier games in September.
Estonia have a habit of starting out strong as can be seen from their last encounter against Faroe Islands, where they were winning 3-0 after just a few minutes, but then lost concentration and only managed to pip their opponents 4-3 in the end.
Malta will be facing Portugal in September and will therefore be hoping to repeat their performance which earned them a draw against Turkey last year. It will be a difficult feat, and that is why they will need a morale boosting result on Wednesday.
FORM GUIDE
Estonia
04/06/08 Estonia-Faroe Islands 4:3
31/05/08 Lithuania-Estonia 1:0
30/05/08 Latvia-Estonia 1:0
27/05/08 Estonia-Georgia 1:1
26/03/08 Estonia-Canada 2:0
Malta
30/05/08 Austria-Malta 5:1
26/03/08 Malta-Liechtenstein 7:1
06/02/08 Malta-Belarus 0:1
04/02/08 Malta-Iceland 1:0
02/02/08 Malta-Armenia 0:1
TEAM NEWS
Estonia
Squad: Mihkel Aksalu, Pavel Londak, Mart Poom; Alo Barengrub, Enar Jaager, Dmitri Kruglov, Raio Piirola, Taavi Rahn, Andrei Sidorenkov, Tihhon Šisov; Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Ragnar Klavan, Oliver Konsa, Joel Lindepere, Ats Purje, Konstantin Vassiljev, Martin Vunk; Tarmo Kink, Andres Oper, Sergei Zenjov
Malta
Squad: Mario Muscat, Justin Haber, Omar Borg; Ian Azzopardi, Roderick Briffa, Luke Dimech, Josef Mifsud, Brian Said, Kenneth Scicluna, Steve Wellman; Gilbert Agius, Roderick Bajada, Cleaven Frendo, Jamie Pace, Peter Pullicino, Kevin Sammut, Ivan Woods; Michael Mifsud (Coventry), Etienne Barbara, Andre Schembri
PREDICTION
Estonia are clearly the more in-form team right now especially from the physical point of view and therefore have the edge in what would otherwise be a close encounter.
Estonia 2 - 0 Malta
Glenn Debattista
Two of Europe's weakest sides will be clashing against each other on Wednesday as they prepare for their upcoming World Cup group games in September.
Both sides have improved in recent years and recent results confirm this trend, with the home team unbeaten in their last three home games, whereas the away side have obtained prestigious wins against Liechtenstein (7-1) and Iceland (1-0) in recent months.
Estonia start as favourites for this clash due to many factors. They will be playing with their full squad, with the only missing player being first team defender Stepanov.
Another good reason why the bookmakers are placing the home team as favourites is the fact that the Estonian league is currently midway through the season, whereas the Maltese league has yet to kick-off, therefore Estonia will have its players in good physical form.
Piiroja sounded confident during the press conference and promised that Estonia will be giving their best shot to win in order to be ready for their World Cup Qualifier games in September.
Estonia have a habit of starting out strong as can be seen from their last encounter against Faroe Islands, where they were winning 3-0 after just a few minutes, but then lost concentration and only managed to pip their opponents 4-3 in the end.
Malta will be facing Portugal in September and will therefore be hoping to repeat their performance which earned them a draw against Turkey last year. It will be a difficult feat, and that is why they will need a morale boosting result on Wednesday.
FORM GUIDE
Estonia
04/06/08 Estonia-Faroe Islands 4:3
31/05/08 Lithuania-Estonia 1:0
30/05/08 Latvia-Estonia 1:0
27/05/08 Estonia-Georgia 1:1
26/03/08 Estonia-Canada 2:0
Malta
30/05/08 Austria-Malta 5:1
26/03/08 Malta-Liechtenstein 7:1
06/02/08 Malta-Belarus 0:1
04/02/08 Malta-Iceland 1:0
02/02/08 Malta-Armenia 0:1
TEAM NEWS
Estonia
Squad: Mihkel Aksalu, Pavel Londak, Mart Poom; Alo Barengrub, Enar Jaager, Dmitri Kruglov, Raio Piirola, Taavi Rahn, Andrei Sidorenkov, Tihhon Šisov; Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Ragnar Klavan, Oliver Konsa, Joel Lindepere, Ats Purje, Konstantin Vassiljev, Martin Vunk; Tarmo Kink, Andres Oper, Sergei Zenjov
Malta
Squad: Mario Muscat, Justin Haber, Omar Borg; Ian Azzopardi, Roderick Briffa, Luke Dimech, Josef Mifsud, Brian Said, Kenneth Scicluna, Steve Wellman; Gilbert Agius, Roderick Bajada, Cleaven Frendo, Jamie Pace, Peter Pullicino, Kevin Sammut, Ivan Woods; Michael Mifsud (Coventry), Etienne Barbara, Andre Schembri
PREDICTION
Estonia are clearly the more in-form team right now especially from the physical point of view and therefore have the edge in what would otherwise be a close encounter.
Estonia 2 - 0 Malta
Glenn Debattista
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