Preview: Luxembourg vs. Bulgaria - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors will enter the match off the back of a 2-0 victory over Cyprus, while Luxembourg played out a 2-2 draw with Hungary in their last fixture.

Match preview

Luxembourg will bring a four-game unbeaten run into this contest, with their last defeat coming at home to Turkey in the UEFA Nations League on June 11.

The Red Lions finished second in League C Group 1, two points behind leaders Turkey, meaning that they will once again compete in League C in the next UEFA Nations League.

Luxembourg have never qualified for the finals of a major international tournament, and they will not be present at the 2022 World Cup, having finished fourth in Group A, picking up nine points from eight matches.

The national side actually finished level on points with Republic of Ireland during qualification, so there were positives to take from their last qualification campaign.

Luc Holtz's side will next be in competitive action against Slovakia in March, while they will also take on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Portugal during qualification for Euro 2024.

Bulgaria, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 victory over Cyprus in a friendly on Wednesday, with Kiril Despodov and Spas Delev on the scoresheet.

The Lions have won their last three matches, while they are unbeaten in their last five, with the run including two victories and two draws in the UEFA Nations League.

Mladen Krstajic's side finished second in League C Group 4 on nine points, with Georgia winning the section on 16 points to earn promotion to League B.

Bulgaria have competed in seven World Cups, with their best finish proving to be back in 1994, when they were fourth at the tournament.

The Tricolours also made the round of 16 in 1986, but they have otherwise failed to advance through the group stage, with their last participation in the finals of the World Cup coming back in 1998.

Luxembourg International Friendlies form:

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Luxembourg form (all competitions):

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Bulgaria International Friendlies form:

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Bulgaria form (all competitions):

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Team News

The latest Luxembourg squad is a real mix of youth and experience, and head coach Holtz is expected to give a number of players opportunities to impress on Sunday.

Yvandro Borges Sanches, 18, could feature in the final third of the field alongside Gerson Rodrigues, who is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 14.

Vincent Thill and Sebastien Thill are both expected to feature in midfield, while there should also be a start for Norwich City's Danel Sinani and New York City FC's Maxime Chanot.

As for Bulgaria, Delev and Despodov were on the scoresheet against Cyprus last time out, and the duo are again expected to be in the starting side for this match.

Head coach Krstajic will need to assess the fitness of his players following Wednesday's game, but there are not expected to be many surprises when it comes to team selection.

There is not too much experience in terms of caps in the Bulgarian midfield, and CSKA Sofia's Stanislav Shopov will be bidding to earn his first appearance for the national side in this match.

Luxembourg possible starting lineup:

Moris; Gerson, Jans, Pinto, Chanot; Sinani, V Thill, Barreiro, S Thill; Rodrigues, Sanches

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:

Naumov; Nedyalkov, Hristov, Turitsov, Antov; Karabelyov, Krastev, Gruev, Stoyanov; Delev, Despodov

We say: Luxembourg 1-1 Bulgaria

Both sides will enter this match in relatively good form, and we are expecting a close match on Sunday afternoon. There is a lot more experience in the Luxembourg squad, but Bulgaria also have plenty of quality, so we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw in this contest.

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