Preview: Iceland vs Luxembourg - prediction, team news, lineups

Iceland will look to wrap up automatic promotion when they welcome Luxembourg to Reykjavik for Monday's Nations League encounter.

The hosts are sitting two points at the top of Group C4, while the visitors are languishing at the bottom of the standings ahead of the final matchday of the league phase.

Match preview

After being relegated from League B in 2024-25, Iceland have put in a strong performance in their first-ever League C campaign, collecting 11 points from a possible 15.

After playing out a 1-1 draw with Estonia, Arnar Gunnlaugsson's side recorded back-to-back 3-0 victories over Luxembourg and Bulgaria.

However, their momentum was somewhat halted by a goalless draw against Estonia in their final outing of the September/October international.

But they certainly had no issues troubling the scorers in Friday's emphatic 5-0 away win over Iceland, which came courtesy of an Andri Gudjohnsen hat-trick, an Orri Oskarsson effort and an own goal.

Gudjohnsen, who is now the leading scorer in League C with five goals, has helped his country secure a playoff berth and put them in pole position to secure automatic promotion on the final matchday.

With a two-point advantage over Estonia, Iceland know a win would guarantee a first-place finish, while a draw would likely be enough due to their significant goal difference advantage.

They would even progress with a defeat if Estonia fail to beat Bulgaria, but they will certainly fancy their chances of taking all three points, considering they are currently League C's highest scorers and have recorded shutouts in each of their last five matches.

Luxembourg are competing in their fourth consecutive League C campaign, knowing they will remain in the third tier no matter the result in Monday's trip to the Icelandic capital.

That is because they are six points adrift of the top two after each of their last four matches since beating Bulgaria 2-1 on matchday one.

In fact, they have failed to trouble the scorers in each of those four defeats, including another goal-shy display in Friday's narrow 1-0 home loss against Estonia, leaving them one point behind third-placed Bulgaria.

That result made it three consecutive home losses without troubling the scorers since Luxembourg won 3-0 against Malta in the second leg of their Nations League relegation/promotion playoff tie in March.

As they head on their travels for Monday's fixture, Jeff Strasser's side can take confidence from the fact they have won three of their last four away internationals, although their most recent away outing resulted in a 1-0 defeat against Estonia.

If they were to win on Monday, it would represent their first-ever away victory over Iceland and just their second head-to-head success at any venue after winning 3-1 in a European Championship qualifier in September 2023.

Iceland Nations League form:

Iceland form (all competitions):

Luxembourg Nations League form:

Luxembourg form (all competitions):

Team News

Iceland will be unable to call upon Stefan Teitur Thordarson and Kristall Mani Ingason, who were forced in the first half against Bulgaria.

Hordur Magnusson replaced Thordarson in the ninth minute in Plovdiv, but he will miss Monday’s fixture through suspension after picking up his second yellow card of the league phase.

As a result of those absences, Gunnlaugsson has decided to call up Hjortur Hermannsson, Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason and Saevar Atli Magnusson.

As for the visitors, Omar Natami will serve a one-match ban after collecting his second yellow card of the league phase in the narrow loss to Estonia.

In positive news, Dirk Carlson is back from suspension and is expected to slot into central defence for Monday’s away fixture.

Enes Mahmutovic and Enzo dos Santos are also pushing for starting spots after coming off the bench to play over 30 minutes in Friday’s defeat.

Iceland possible starting lineup:

Valdimarsson; Palsson, Gunnarsson, Gretarsson, Tomasson; Ellertsson, Johannesson, Haraldsson, Sigurdsson; Oskarsson, Gudjohnsen

Luxembourg possible starting lineup:

Moris; Bohnert, Selimovic, Mahmutovic, Carlson; Olesen; V Thill, Dos Santos, Cruz, Kadamani; Dardari

We say: Iceland 3-0 Luxembourg

Iceland will be full of confidence after thrashing Bulgaria 5-0 last time out, and we think they will produce another free-scoring display against a Luxembourg side that are low on confidence after four consecutive defeats.

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