Preview: Denmark vs. Moldova - prediction, team news, lineups

Denmark will be looking to make it back-to-back wins at the start of their 2022 World Cup qualification campaign when they host Moldova on Sunday evening.

Kasper Hjulmand 's side opened their Group F challenge with a 2-0 victory away to Israel on Thursday, while Moldova played out a 1-1 draw with the Faroe Islands on the same night.

Match preview

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Denmark made the perfect start to their Group F campaign on Thursday as goals from Martin Braithwaite and Jonas Wind saw them record an impressive 2-0 victory away to Israel.

Hjulmand's side are already top of the section and will fancy their chances of staying there, although Austria and Scotland are also capable of challenging high up the group, with the Faroe Islands and Moldova likely to struggle.

Denmark did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup but reached the round of 16 in 2018, losing to Croatia on penalties, and it would be a surprise if they were not present at the 2022 competition.

The Red and Whites will also compete at this summer's European Championships, comfortably qualifying for the tournament as they went through their group unbeaten, finishing second behind Switzerland.

The 1992 European Championship winners will be facing Moldova for the first time in their history, and it would be a huge shock if they did not manage to put another three points on the board here.

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The visitors, as mentioned, played out a 1-1 draw with the Faroe Islands on Thursday; Ion Nicolaescu sent Moldova ahead in the ninth minute of the contest before Meinhard Olsen levelled for the away side late on.

Ranked 177th by FIFA, Moldova have never qualified for the finals of a major international tournament, and they did not win a single match during qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

Under the management of Italian Roberto Bordin since February, the minnows have not won a game since recording a 1-0 victory over Andorra in June 2019.

The away team now face a tough task against a talented Denmark outfit on Sunday before finishing the month with a home game against Israel; Bordin's team are then scheduled to face Azerbaijan in a friendly in June before resuming their 2022 World Cup qualification campaign at home to Austria in September.

Denmark World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

W

Denmark form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

L

W

Moldova World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

D

Moldova form (all competitions):

L

L

D

L

L

D

Team News

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Hjulmand could decide to shuffle his pack for this match, as the Denmark boss is expected to have more than one eye on their key clash with Austria on March 31.

Christian Eriksen played the full 90 minutes against Israel and is expected to be rested for this game, with Robert Skov, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kasper Dolberg and Lasse Schone all in line for starts.

Henrik Dalsgaard and Jannik Vestergaard could both be handed spots at the back, but Joakim Maehle should retain his position at left-back for a team that has won six of their last seven matches.

Moldova's encouraging performance against the Faroe Islands could lead to head coach Bordin sending the same starting XI onto the field for Sunday's encounter.

Nicolaescu scored his second international goal last time out and should again lead the attack with support from Vitalie Damascan, who has netted once for his country in 14 appearances.

The away side's most experienced player is Alexandru Epureanu, and the 34-year-old could win his 99th cap on Sunday, while Igor Armas is again likely to captain the team from central defence.

Denmark possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Dalsgaard, Kjaer, Vestegaard, Maehle; Delaney, Schone; Skov, Damsgaard, Braithwaite; Dolberg

Moldova possible starting lineup:

Namasco; Posmac, Epureanu, Armas; Jardan, Rata, Carp, Ionita, Reabciuk; Damascan, Nicolaescu

We say: Denmark 2-0 Moldova

Denmark will fancy their chances of putting another three points on the board ahead of their trip to Austria on March 31, and we can only see one result in this match. Moldova are capable of keeping the score down, but it should be a relatively comfortable 90 minutes of football for the home team.

Top tip

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