Preview: Denmark vs. San Marino - prediction, team news, lineups

With four matches in the books, the hosts find themselves two points behind Finland and Kazakhstan in Group H, while the visitors are rooted to the foot of the standings.

Match preview

Denmark kicked off their qualification journey for next summer's European Championship with a 3-1 victory over Finland, courtesy of a hat-trick from new Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, but the Red and Whites have struggled for consistency since then.

In their second match, Denmark raced into a 2-0 lead against Kazakhstan thanks to a first-half brace from Hojlund, but Kasper Hjulmand's side failed to hold onto their advantage, conceding three late goals to hand the hosts the win in Astana.

The Red and Whites bounced back with a 1-0 win against Northern Ireland in June, racking up 68% possession and 13 shots at Parken, although they were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia in their previous outing, with Hojlund getting on the scoresheet once again.

Since making his international debut in September 2022, Hojlund has netted six goals in as many games for his country, but if Denmark are to overtake Finland and Kazakhstan and punch their ticket to Euro 2024, they cannot rely solely on their 20-year-old forward.

That said, the Danes will be confident of dispatching San Marino without any problems, as FIFA's lowest-ranked team have made a familiar start to their qualifying campaign, suffering four straight defeats without scoring a single goal in reply.

Following 2-0 losses against Northern Ireland and Slovenia, San Marino suffered a 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan before enduring a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Finland, managing a solitary attempt on target while seeing just 20% possession last time out.

In terms of the bigger picture, San Marino have only managed to taste victory once since forming back in 1986, claiming a 1-0 friendly win against Liechtenstein in 2004, although La Serenissima are still waiting for their first competitive victory.

Fabrizio Costantini's side ended a 19-match losing run when they played out a goalless stalemate with Seychelles in September 2022, but they have since recorded one draw and six losses across all competitions, underlining their struggles.

Denmark Euro Champ Qualifying form:

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D

Denmark form (all competitions):

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L

W

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W

D

San Marino Euro Champ Qualifying form:

L

L

L

L

San Marino form (all competitions):

D

L

L

L

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L

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Team News

Denmark's latest squad is stacked with Premier League regulars, including Tottenham Hotspur's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Crystal Palace's Joachim Andersen, in addition to the Brentford duo of Mathias Jensen and Christian Norgaard.

Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen is set to earn his 123rd international cap on Thursday, while his new club teammate, Hojlund, will be licking his lips at the prospect of exploiting San Marino's leaky backline.

On the flip side, familiar names such as Kasper Dolberg, Andreas Cornelius, Philip Billing, Mikkel Damsgaard, Mathias Jorgensen and Rasmus Kristensen have not been called up by Hjulmand this time around.

As for San Marino, 19 members of their 25-man squad play their domestic football in their homeland, with the other six players belonging to lower-league clubs in Italy.

Veteran captain Matteo Vitaioli has scored just once in 85 international appearances, while only five of members of the current squad have found the back of the net for their country.

Denmark possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Christensen, Kjaer, Andersen; Bah, Hojbjerg, Erisksen, Larsen; Olsen, Wind; Hojlund

San Marino possible starting lineup:

Benedettini; Fabbri, Di Maio, Rossi; D'Addario, Lunadei, Battistini, Golinucci, Tosi; Nanni, Berardi

We say: Denmark 5-0 San Marino

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