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Israel will host Albania at Bloomfield on Saturday (September 24) night in the UEFA Nations League group stage.
The Blue and Whites endured an underwhelming FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing third in their group, seven points behind Scotland in the playoffs spot.
Alon Hazan has been appointed as the new manager and has overseen a fairly decent Nations League run. His team recently came from behind twice to pick up a 2-2 draw against Iceland. Israel sit atop their group table with five points from three games and will confirm promotion with a win on Saturday.
Albania, meanwhile, missed out on the FIFA World Cup playoffs after losing two of their final three qualifying games and have gone into a slump since then. They are winless in their Nations League campaign so far, recently suffering a 2-1 defeat against their weekend opponents in June.
The Eagles have picked up one point from two games and sit bottom in their group. Anything short of a win this weekend will end their quest for promotion.
Israel vs Albania Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been five meetings between Israel and Albania. The hosts have won three of those games, while Albania have won the other two.
- The Blue and Whites have won their last two games in this fixture, most recently picking up a 2-1 victory via a Manor Solomon second-half brace that canceled out Armando Broja's opener for the Eagles.
- Albania have scored at least one goal in all but one of their last six games on foreign soil.
- Israel are without a clean sheet in their last 11 games across competitions.
- Alon Hazan's men's two games on home soil this year have ended in 2-2 draws, first against Romania in March and then against Iceland in June.
Israel vs Albania Prediction
Israel are undefeated in their last four games across competitions, with three of the games ending in draws. They have not lost a game at home since March last year and will look to extend that streak.
Albania, meanwhile, are on a five-game winless streak and have won just one of their last eight games across competitions. They have won just one of their last seven games away from home and could lose here.
Prediction: Israel 2-1 Albania
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Israel vs Albania Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Israel
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (All but one of Israel's last 10 matches have produced more than 2.5 goals.)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both teams have found the back of the net in all but one of the hosts' last nine games.)
