Gibraltar – Latvia Prediction & Picks (25.03.2018)

Gibraltar and Latvia meet at Victoria Stadium, in a friendly match. This is the 1st friendly match of the year for Gibraltar. In the case of Latvia, this is their 3rd friendly of the year, having already faced the Faroe Islands and the Republic of Korea. There is only a record of 1 direct confrontation in the last 3 years between these two teams, on 03-23-2016, which ended with the victory of Latvia by (0-5). Attention to the house factor, since the Gibraltar usually conquer different results at home and abroad.

Gibraltar:

This will be the first friendly match of the year for the home team, who did not dispute any last year. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 28 matches they have a draw and 12 losses in away matches; against 1 win, 1 draw and 13 losses at their stadium. The team comes to this match after a defeat away with Greece by (4-0). In the last 6 home matches for all competitions, Gibraltar have lost 6. The team has not been very strong defensively, as they have suffered goals in the last 10 matches, and their attack needs to improve, as they have not scored goals in their last game. 7 of the last 10 matches. The team does not usually score first. Indeed, he failed to open the scoring in any of the last 11 games. In 11 games, he never got the comeback in the 11 games in which he suffered the first goal.

The Gibraltar team comes to this match with a defeat against Greece, 4-0, adding the tenth defeat in the last ten games played. In this period, Gibraltar scored only 3 goals. In this confrontation against Latvia, coach Jeff Wood must act in 4-4-2, but with a fairly defensive strategy, since the opponent has some individual values. Liam Walker is the player with more capacity to shake the game of Gibraltar, being this holder of great technical quality and vision of the game. Everything indicates that the coach has his best players for this duel.

Latvia:

The visiting team disputes its 3rd friendly of the year. In the previous friendlies he registered the following markers: Faroe Islands (1-1) Latvia and Republic of Korea (1-0) Latvia. This is a team that usually maintains its competitive levels in home and away matches, since in the last 30 matches they register 2 wins, 6 draws and 7 losses in away matches, with 15 goals scored and 23 conceded; against 5 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses at their stadium, with 15 goals scored and 23 conceded. In the last 10 away matches for all competitions, Latvia won 1, tied 3 and lost 6. Defensive consistency has not been their best feature, as they have conceded goals in 8 of the last 10 matches. In their away matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 6 of the last 12 matches they played ended with Under 1,5 goals. In 15 games, he never got the comeback in the 10 games in which he suffered the first goal.

The Latvia comes to this game with a tie to a ball against the Faroe Islands, adding the third consecutive game without winning in several competitions. In this game against the fragile selection of Gibraltar, the coach Aleksandrs Starkovs must return to risk in 5-4-1, privileging possession of the ball and organized attacks. It is important to emphasize that this selection has some offensive weaknesses, but a strong defensive sector in the air game. For this game the coach has all the usual players at his disposal.