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North Macedonia will host Malta at the Tose Proeski Arena on Thursday in the opening round of their 2024 European Championship qualifiers.
The home side participated in the previous edition of the European Championship but failed to impress, losing all three of their group games to finish rock-bottom in the table with a negative goal difference of six.
Euro 2020 marked North Macedonia's first-ever appearance on the continental stage and they will be looking to secure consecutive appearances next year.
North Macedonia endured a largely underwhelming UEFA Nations League campaign last year and will be looking to put out a much better showing in the Euro qualifiers this month.
Malta are set to begin life under new boss Michele Marcolini this week and will hope they can kick things off on a positive note. They endured a disappointing qualification campaign back in 2019, losing nine of their 10 matches to finish rock-bottom in their group with just three points from an obtainable 30.
The visitors have never appeared in the group stages of the European Championship and will be desperate to end that streak next year.
North Macedonia vs Malta Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
There have been six meetings between North Macedonia and Malta. The hosts are undefeated in all six matchups, picking up five wins and a draw.
The two nations last faced off in a friendly clash back in 2010 which ended 1-1.
The visitors have never kept a clean sheet in this fixture.
The Lynxes are without a clean sheet in their last five games across all competitions.
The Falcons were ranked 167th in the latest FIFA rankings and now sit 102 places behind their midweek opponents.
Malta have won just one of their last nine away matches, a run dating back to 2020.
North Macedonia vs Malta Prediction
North Macedonia have lost four of their last five games across all competitions and have won just two of their last 10. They are, however, the stronger side ahead of Thursday's game and will be hopeful of a result here.
Malta's latest result ended a run of back-to-back unbeaten outings and they will be looking to bounce back in this fixture. They have, however, struggled for results on the road of late and could lose this one.
Prediction: North Macedonia 1-0 Malta
North Macedonia vs Malta Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: North Macedonia
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Four of the hosts' last five matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just two of their last six matchups)
