Albania’s scheduled match with Russia on 3rd June did not take place due to their opponent's current restrictions.
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Albania will begin their 2022 UEFA Nations League campaign on Monday against Iceland. Their trip to Reykjavik to face Iceland in Group B2 will be the country’s first match of this year’s competition. It comes after Albania’s scheduled match with Russia on 3rd June did not take place due to their opponent’s current restrictions. Hence, they will be hoping to start the tournament on a positive note but they will be well aware of the difficult challenge at hand for them on Monday.
Meanwhile, Iceland started this year’s tournament with an impressive draw in their opening fixture against Israel. During the away match in Haifa, Iceland played out resolutely to make life difficult for the home side. After going behind in the tie, Iceland scored twice – once before half time break and the other immediately after the start of the second half – to take an unlikely lead. However, Israel managed to score a late equaliser to share the spoils. Nonetheless, Iceland will be very happy with getting a point from that game.
However, the recent run of form has not been good for Iceland, who have not won a game in a long time. The last time they won a match was against Liechtenstein in October of last year. Since then they have gone seven games without winning an international game. On the other hand, Albania have also not won any games this year. However, they won their final game of last year against Andorra. It will be a difficult game to call for both teams. In the context of the group, the result might hold a massive significance for both sides.
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Iceland are expected to name the same starting XI following their draw in the opener. However, the team has two concerns. The situation surrounding defender Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason, who was brought off at half time, remains unclear as to whether it was due to an injury or not. However, Hakon Arnar Haraldsson was substituted with an injury 12 minutes from time. Meanwhile, Albania are expected to start with a lot of players who are plying their trade in Serie A. They also have issues with a couple of players, with Chelsea striker Armando Broja missing out of the clash with COVID-19, while Rey Manaj is unavailable due to injury.
Iceland possible line-up: Runarsson, Sampsted, Gretarsson, Magnusson, Olafsson, Helgason, Thrandarson, Birkir Bjarnason, Sigurdsson, Thorsteinsson, Gudjohnsen
Albania possible line-up: Berisha, Ismajli, Kumbulla, Djimsitil, Roshi, Cekici, Bajrami, Abrashi, Hysaj, Balaj, Cikalleshi
The UEFA Nations League match between Iceland and Albania will take place at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium on Tuesday, 12:15 am IST.
Select UEFA Nations League 2022-23 matches will be telecast live on the Sony TEN network in India. Besides, live streaming of these matches will be available on SonyLIV and JioTV apps and OTT platforms in India.
