Lithuania take on Iceland in the semi-final of the Baltic Cup in Kaunas on Wednesday night, the oldest national football tournament in the world that still remains active.

The winner of what is the first clash between the teams since 2003 will face either Latvia or Estonia in the final, with the other semi-finalists set to square off at the same time.

Match preview

Turkey's Halil Dervisoglu in action with Lithuania's Linas Megelaitis on June 7, 2022 © Reuters

Lithuania endured a torrid campaign in the UEFA Nations League C, finishing bottom of the pile after picking up just one point from six games.

Losses against Turkey may well have been expected, but it will have been disappointing for the Baltic side to lose home and away to Luxembourg and fall to a 2-1 defeat against the Faroe Islands.

Reinhold Breu has been the caretaker manager for the past two matches, and there have been some signs of improvement, recording a 1-1 draw at home to the Faroe Islands, the only point they recorded in the Nations League.

Despite a 1-0 loss, the performance in Lithuania's last outing was encouraging, recording more shots on target than Luxembourg in an away trip, a game that they probably should have taken more from.

However, a late Gerson Rodrigues strike was the difference between the two sides, and Brue's men are now without a win in their last seven matches.

Iceland have managed to establish themselves as a decent international side in recent years, and they are likely to come into the game as favourites.

Not only that, but the team from the land of fire and ice have more recent match practice than their opponents, taking on Saudi Arabia and South Korea in friendlies earlier in November.

However, Arnar Vidarsson's side struggled in these games, first losing 1-0 to Saudi Arabia in Abu Dhabi, with Saud Abdulhamid notching the only goal in a game where Iceland only managed two shots on target.

Following that, the Nordic side were on the receiving end of a 1-0 defeat away at South Korea, never really looking like any trouble for their opponents.

In fairness to Iceland, both of these defeats came against sides who are gearing up for the Qatar World Cup, which begins this weekend, and so they should fare better against a Lithuania side in such poor form.

Lithuania form (all competitions):

Iceland form (all competitions):

Team News

Iceland coach Arnar Vidarsson pictured on March 28, 2021 © Reuters

With Lithuania putting in a spirited performance in Luxembourg last time out, it is unlikely that they will make many changes for this Baltic Cup encounter.

Fedor Cernych has featured 16 times for his club side, Jagiellonia, so far this season, and should continue to lead the line for his national side, with Paulius Golubickas and Arvydas Novikovas supporting from either flank.

Edvinas Girdvainis, Vykintas Slivka and Benas Satkus are set to all feature at centre-back, with Breu likely to opt for a cautious approach against good quality opposition.

Iceland are competing in the Baltic Cup for the first time ever this season, so it is hard to predict how seriously Vidarsson will choose to take the tournament.

However, with no other games in the Nordic side's calendar until 2023, he may choose to field a strong side, with Daniel Hafsteinsson, Hordur Gunnarsson and Julius Magnusson making up a midfield three.

Magnus Karlsson led the line in the previous two matches, and he has notched an impressive 19 goals in 32 games for Oakland Roots this season, so should get the nod in attack.

Either side of the 25-year-old may well be Bjarki Bjarkason, who used to play alongside Karlsson at Venezia, and promising youngster Danijel Djuric.

Lithuania possible starting lineup:
Bartkus; Barauskas, Girdvainis, Slivka, Satkus, Baravykas; Novikovas, Vorobjovas, Simkus, Golubickas; Cernych

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Schram; Gunnlaugsson, Muminovic, Thorkelsson, Einarsson; Hafsteinsson, Gunnarsson, Magnusson; Svanthorsson, Karlsson, Jonsson

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We say: Lithuania 0-3 Iceland

Iceland should have no trouble in progressing to the final here, with a clear gulf in quality existing between them and their opponents. As such, we expect them to win by a comfortable margin, booking a first ever appearance in the Baltic Cup final.

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