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

Belarus, meanwhile, will be aiming to bounce back after suffering a 5-0 thumping at the hands of Switzerland on Saturday.

Match preview

Having only managed to qualify for one of the last seven major tournaments on offer - which was when they crashed out at the group stage of Euro 2016 - there is real belief within Romania that they will be competing at Euro 2024 in Germany next summer.

Despite being relegated from League B of the Nations League last year, the Romanian Football Federation have kept faith with Edward Iordanescu's stewardship, with the 44-year-old guiding his home country to a routine 2-0 win away to Andorra in their opening game at the weekend.

Strikes either side of half-tme from Dennis Man and Denis Alibec handed the visitors the initiative, before Marc Rebes's dismissal after the hour mark essentially ended the match as a contest.

Having been drawn alongside Switzerland, Israel, Kosovo, Belarus and Andorra in Group I, Romania should clearly be targeting the second automatic qualifying spot in the group, with the third-ranked team (Israel) being 24 places below Iordanescu's side in the FIFA World Rankings.

With Israel dropping points at home to Kosovo in their opening game before travelling to Switzerland for their second match, Romania clearly have an excellent opportunity to put significant distance between them at an early stage of proceedings by dispatching Belarus on Tuesday.

Belarus, of course, have never qualified for a competitive tournament as an independent nation, with their closest effort being when missing out on a play-off spot to reach the 2002 World Cup after finishing two points behind second-placed Ukraine in their qualifying group.

The White Wings' efforts are certainly not helped at present by being forced to play away from their home ground due to diplomatic factors, with Georgy Kondratyev's side staging most of their recent home matches at Karadorde Stadium in Serbia.

Belarus were thrashed 5-0 by Switzerland at that stadium on Saturday, with Renato Steffen scoring a hat-trick inside the opening half an hour, before Granit Xhaka and Zeki Amdouni added gloss to the visitors' victory after the break.

Given the current state of affairs surrounding Belarus, as well as their lack of individual talent, Kondratyev's only realistic ambition from the group may be ensuring that his side avoid finishing bottom of Group I, with Andorra the likeliest candidate to receive that particular wooden spoon.

Romania Euro Champ Qualifying form:

W

Romania form (all competitions):

L

D

W

L

W

W

Belarus Euro Champ Qualifying form:

L

Belarus form (all competitions):

L

L

D

W

L

L

Team News

Romania saw their star forward George Puscas withdraw from their squad prior to the trip to Andorra last week, meaning Alibec will almost certainly receive another start in attack after bagging against the minnows.

Having began the qualifying group with a solid albeit unspectacular victory, Iordanescu is unlikely to see any reason to make changes to his starting XI, with Razvan Marin set to anchor the midfield once more.

Belarus, on the other hand, could shake things up after producing an extremely limp performance against Switzerland, with Artyom Bykov and Ivan Bakhar providing two notable options to start having come off the bench during their country's 5-0 defeat.

Yury Kavalyow and Evgeni Yablonski are the most likely pair to make way, but in truth Kondratyev has very few credible alternatives to turn to as he attempts to stop the rot in Bucharest.

Romania possible starting lineup:

Radu; Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Sorescu; Morutan, Stanciu, Marin, Olaru, Man; Alibec

Belarus possible starting lineup:

Kudravets; Yuzepchuk, Selyava, Volkov, Palyakow, Malkevich; Bakhar, Ebong, Bykov, Grechikho; Khvashchynski

We say: Romania 2-0 Belarus

While Belarus should be safe from succumbing to another thrashing, Romania will sense an excellent opportunity to lay down a marker for an automatic qualifying spot in Group I, and we are struggling beyond to see another routine victory for them after dispatching Andorra in their opening match.

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