Preview: Israel vs. Belarus - prediction, team news, lineups

Belarus' hopes of mounting any late effort to threaten the top two was all but ended thanks to a disappointing draw in Andorra on Saturday.

Match preview

Israel will still fancy their chances of a first major tournament appearance since their one and only successful qualifying campaign for the 1970 World Cup, when they competed in Asia.

After the midway point, Israel are well in the mix for a top two spot in what is looking increasingly like a three-horse race.

An impressive draw in Romania may give them the edge going into the second half of the section, even though they are still down in third for the time being.

Romania have a potentially tricky encounter with Kosovo on the same night, so Israel must get the job done here against a side they are expected to beat.

A 1-1 draw with Kosovo on the opening matchday is a result that the Israelis may look back on and rue, even if they were ultimately fortunate to even come away with a point.

Looking ahead though, with Andorra still to come as well, this looks like a very winnable fixture for Alon Hazan's men.

If they can beat the group's weaker outfits in their final games, it makes the home encounters they have to come against Switzerland and Romania extremely enticing.

Israel have a slightly ropey recent past against Belarus though, as they needed two goals in the final five minutes to beat them in the reverse fixture, while they lost their previous home clash back in 2012.

For Belarus, the disappointment at being incapable of beating Andorra will leave a bitter taste, especially after a very fine win over Kosovo in June.

That success raised hopes that they could potentially build some momentum and sneak into the conversation for a top two spot in a wide-open section.

After just suffering a late collapse to Israel earlier in the group, new manager Carlos Alos would have seen this and the Andorra clash as two winnable games.

Losing their opening three matches means wins are a must, and had they beaten Andorra they would now be just three points off a qualifying spot at the midway stage.

However, the challenge now looks insurmountable, even if they were to spring a surprise here, as there is just too much ground to make up.

Israel Euro Champ Qualifying form:

D

L

W

W

D

Israel form (all competitions):

L

D

L

W

W

D

Belarus Euro Champ Qualifying form:

L

L

L

W

D

Belarus form (all competitions):

L

L

L

L

W

D

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Team News

Israel's key man Manor Solomon came into the international break in great spirits after taking his chance in the Tottenham Hotspur first team with two hands, providing two assists in their 5-2 win over Burnley.

Promising teenager Oscar Gloukh continues to go from strength to strength too with Red Bull Salzburg, and he netted an excellent equaliser in Bucharest on Saturday for his second goal in the section.

Eden Kartsev is one of the notable injury absentees from the squad, as the Istanbul Basaksehir midfielder has now missed the last three international windows with injury and Under-21 commitments.

Doron Leidner and Ayid Habshi are also sidelined, pulling out of the squad late with injury worries.

After a costly error in the draw with Romania, Omri Glazer could be replaced by new Bayern Munich signing Dan Peretz in goal.

In a fairly inexperienced Belarus squad where only Denis Polyakov has over 40 caps, they may look to Max Ebong for inspiration in midfield.

As just one of five players who play outside Belarus and Russia, Ebong scored in both of June's internationals and helped his Kazakh club FC Astana to the Europa Conference League group stages.

Sevilla's Leo Kapilevich is another of the rare few plying their trade away from the homeland, and the defender will hope for an international debut here.

Israel possible starting lineup:

Da. Peretz; Dasa, Miguel Vitor, Goldberg, Revivo; Do. Peretz, Lavi, Kanichowsky; Gloukh, Weissman, Solomon

Belarus possible starting lineup:

Plotnikov; Polyakov, Volkov, Politevich, Pechenin; Bykov, Ebony, Korzun, Lisakovich; Kontsevoy, Savitskiy

We say: Israel 2-0 Belarus

Israel should feel boosted after a fine run of form since June, taking seven points from their last three qualifiers.

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