Preview: Gibraltar vs Latvia - prediction, team news, lineups

Gibraltar and Latvia square off at Europa Sports Park on Thursday night in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League relegation playoff.

While Gibraltar earned a spot at this stage with a second-placed finish in Group D1, Latvia are battling to remain in League C after finishing bottom of Group C4.

Match preview

On a run of 10 consecutive defeats in all competitions, Gibraltar are hardly full of confidence heading into this fixture.

A total of 31 goals were conceded during that period, with losses being posted against the likes of Faroe Islands and New Caledonia.

However, between September and November 2024, Gibraltar put together a four-match unbeaten streak to finish second in a group featuring San Marino and Liechtenstein.

Although San Marino ultimately finished top of Group D1, Gibraltar posted a 1-0 win over their fellow minnows, as well as draws in the other three fixtures.

Nevertheless, that run was produced when current head coach Scott Wiseman was not in charge. He has since overseen the 10-game losing run, with just three goals being scored.

© Imago

Latvia are on their own winless streak, having failed to emerge victorious in nine games since a 1-0 triumph over Andorra in March last year.

That said, four draws have been earned against Azerbaijan, Albania, Andorra and North Macedonia. Furthermore, Latvia also only lost by one-goal margins to Serbia in two World Cup qualifiers.

Paolo Nicolato's team find themselves fighting to avoid relegation to League D having finished bottom of a group that featured North Macedonia, Armenia and Faroe Islands.

Immediate relegation was avoided because they accumulated four points from six games, the best record of the last-placed teams in League C.

While Latvia won two World Cup qualifiers against Gibraltar in 2021 by 3-1 scorelines, it should be noted that Gibraltar recorded a 1-0 win over them in a friendly played almost eight years to the day to Thursday's game.

Gibraltar form (all competitions):

Latvia form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / Paul Marriott

With Ethan Jolley, Louie Annesley and Jayce Olivero all missing from the Gibraltar squad, Wiseman has major issues in defence.

Julian Valarino could feature at right-back, while Jeremy Perera may be considered to feature as a make-shift centre-back if Wiseman does not include him in a three-man midfield.

Jaiden Bartolo is expected to get the nod down the centre of the attack as he searches for his first Gibraltar goal.

Latvia will make at least two changes from the 2-1 defeat in Serbia, a consequence of left-back Maksims Tonisevs and Eduards Daskevics sidelined through injury.

Sunderland left-back Dennis Cirkin could be handed an immediate debut having joined the squad for the first time.

Lukass Vapne may switch to the left flank, with Aleksejs Saveljevs being brought into midfield. Vladislavs Gutkovskis will lead the line in what will be his 60th appearance for his country.

Gibraltar possible starting lineup:

Hankins; Valarino, Lopes, Perera, Ronan, Mauro; Jessop, Pozo, Torrilla, Scanlon; Bartolo

Latvia possible starting lineup:

Matrevics; Savalnieks, Veips, Jurkovskis, Melniks, Cirkin; Ikaunieks, Zelenkovs, Saveljevs, Vapne; Gutkovskis

We say: Gibraltar 1-3 Latvia

There is an argument that Latvia have no business competing in League D of the Europa League, but they will need to earn their place in a higher-raked group over the next two games.

While Gibraltar are improving as a team, we can only back Latvia to come through with a strong advantage ahead of the reverse fixture.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.