Preview: Finland vs. Estonia - prediction, team news, lineups

Estonia drew with Iceland in their last friendly on Sunday, while their opponents suffered a defeat at the hands of Sweden.

Match preview

Finland come into another international friendly on Thursday hoping to bounce back from their previous result and build confidence ahead of the commencement of the qualifying campaign for Euro 2024.

The Huuhkajat were most recently in competitive action in September, as they closed out their UEFA Nations League campaign with a draw against Romania and a 2-0 triumph away at Montenegro to leapfrog the latter and finish second in their group.

They would return in a contest against Sweden in Portugal on Monday and go a goal behind in the first half as Christoffer Nyman opened the scoring, before Joel Asoro added a second for their opponents in the dying embers to seal a 2-0 victory.

Markku Kanerva's side will now have an eye on the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying, which begins with games against Denmark and Northern Ireland in March, after they reached the group stage for the first time in the delayed 2020 competition, eventually bowing out after a victory and two defeats.

In their final outing before their bid to reach a second straight continental tournament, Finland will aim to return to winning ways with their somewhat weakened squad on Thursday.

They meet an Estonia side who will also be in search of a win ahead of the European Championships qualifying, with the Sinisargid entering on the back of a draw with Iceland and a third-placed finish in the Baltic Cup late last year.

Thomas Haberli's side met Latvia in the semi-final of that tournament in November, and after Sergei Zenjov's second-minute opener was cancelled out by a Raimonds Krollis leveller, the tie went to a penalty shootout, which Estonia fell short in.

That saw them drop into the third-place playoff, and the Sinisargid were able to prevail with a 2-0 victory over Lithuania thanks to goals from Zenjov and Rasmus Peetson before returning to action in Portugal on Sunday with a game against Iceland.

Zenjov would continue his run of scoring form to put his nation ahead on the stroke of half time in that friendly, and Haberli's men looked set to come out on top, only to concede a penalty in injury time which Andri Gudjohnsen converted to see the contest end level.

They will now look to make a return to winning ways in the second and final friendly of their trip before ramping up the preparations for the qualifying campaign.

Finland friendly form:

L

Finland form (all competitions):

L

D

W

D

D

L

Estonia friendly form:

D

Estonia form (all competitions):

D

W

W

L

W

D

Team News

Finland find themselves without a somewhat weakened squad for this pair of friendlies, as the majority of their star players have remained with their club sides for the period, including captain and Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, leaving Peterborough United's Lucas Bergstrom to earn his first international caps between the sticks.

All-time top scorer Teemu Pukki has also stayed with Norwich City, with Marcus Forss, and Joel Pohjanpalo similarly not present in the attacking ranks, meaning Agon Sadiku may again feature up front alongside Kai Meriluoto.

Rasmus Schuller boasts the most international experience in this squad with over 60 caps, and he should come into the midfield from the outset on Thursday, with Pyry Soiri also set to play an important role.

Estonia are also without a number of key players, as defenders Ragnar Klavan, Artur Pikk and Karol Mets are all absent from the squad, as are midfielders Mattias Kait and Vladislav Kreida and forwards Henri Anier and Rauno Sappinen.

They do have Sergei Zenjov firing up front, though, and the experienced attacker will hope to find the net in his fourth consecutive international game, having taken his tally to 17 goals in 103 caps.

Midfielder Konstantin Vassiljev is approaching 150 caps and top spot in his nation's all-time rankings, having also notched up 26 goals, and the 38-year-old is bound to feature in the engine room again.

Finland possible starting lineup:

Bergstrom; Ivanov, Hoskonen, Jensen; Soiri, Schuller, Vaananen, Maenpaa, Galvez; Sadiku, Meriluoto

Estonia possible starting lineup:

Vallner; Tougjas, Peetson, Teniste; Miller, Vassiljev, Soomets, Kallaste; Zenjov, Poom, Ojamaa

We say: Finland 2-1 Estonia

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