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

Looking to get their promotion push to the UEFA Nations League second tier back on track, Luxembourg welcome winless Bulgaria to Stade de Luxembourg on Tuesday for a matchday four encounter in Group C4.

The hosts sit third in the section after collecting three points from their opening three fixtures of the campaign, four points adrift of automatic promotion and two behind the playoff spot, while the bottom-placed visitors are two points behind Tuesday's opponents.

Match preview

Playing in the third tier of the Nations League for a fourth consecutive edition since gaining promotion in 2018-19, Luxembourg's quest to reach the upper section has hit a stumbling block despite a bright start to the campaign.

D'Rout Leiwen kicked off this year's European competition with a 2-1 victory at Bulgaria but has since suffered consecutive defeats, conceding four goals in that spell while failing to find the net in either outing.

Although Saturday's 1-0 loss at Estonia was less damaging than the 3-0 defeat they suffered on matchday two, Jeff Strasser's team continued an unwanted trend, as each of their eight defeats in their last 12 outings has come only in games where they failed to score.

The other four matches in that spell have ended in victory, while they kept clean sheets in three of those games, meaning maximum points on Tuesday could depend on Luxembourg finding a better balance at both ends of the pitch, even if the only time they conceded during this run came in the reverse fixture.

That result did continue another pattern between the two sides, with the home team failing to win in each of the last five meetings, while Luxembourg suffered a 1-0 defeat the last time they hosted Bulgaria in the Nations League in 2024.

In fact, D'Rout Leiwen have failed to win any of their previous eight competitive meetings with Bulgaria as the host, losing seven of those, a record that does not bode well for a nation that have managed just one victory in their last eight official home matches (W1, D1, L6).

Bulgaria are playing in League C for the third straight edition following their relegation from the second tier in 2020-21, though there is no danger of dropping into a lower tier this season, with the third- and fourth-placed teams in League C retaining their status.

However, any hopes of promotion would require an almost perfect run from the Lions, who are winless in their first three games of the tournament, having followed their opening-day defeat to Luxemburg with a goalless draw against Estonia before Aleksandar Dimitrov resigned as manager.

Atanas Ribarski's first game in interim charge could not have gone much worse, with Bulgaria suffering a 3-0 defeat in Iceland after conceding an Orri Oskarsson brace and a late Mikael Egill Ellertsson goal.

As a result, the Lions have gone five matches without a win across all competitions (D2, L3) since a three-match winning run between November 2025 and March's FIFA Series double-header, while recording just one victory in their last 12 competitive games (D2, L9).

Bulgaria’s record on the road offers little encouragement either, having lost each of their last five official away outings while failing to score in any of those matches.

Luxembourg Nations League form:

Luxembourg form (all competitions):

Bulgaria Nations League form:

Bulgaria form (all competitions):

Team News

Luxembourg have lost Danel Sinani and Laurent Jans to injury during this UEFA Nations League campaign, though there appear to be no fresh concerns following Saturday's defeat at Estonia.

While Sinani's absence led to the only change between matchdays one and two, Jans's unavailability on Saturday resulted in an alteration to the backline, with Vahid Selimovic coming into the defence.

Another change in the backline is expected, with head coach Strasser needing to reshuffle his defense following the suspension of Enes Mahmutovic due to accumulation of bookings.

Meanwhile, Hamza Kadamani could earn a recall, while Leandro Barreiro may also return to the lineup after being an unused substitute in that outing and having been cleared to play following a booking mix-up on the bench.

Bulgaria do not appear to have any fresh injury concerns, though interim boss Ribarski will have to do without Lukas Petkov and Dimitar Velkovski due to suspension for accumulated bookings.

As such, Atanas Iliev could lead the line once again, while Ivan Turitsov could fill in at left-back for Velkovski, with Yoan Stoyanov an option on the right side of the defence.

Luxembourg possible starting lineup:

Moris; Bohnert, Selimovic, Carlson, Veiga; Moreira, Barreiro; Thill, Olesen, Dardari, Kadamani

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:

Naumov; Stoyanov, K Dimitrov, Velkov, Turitsov; Tsonev, Gruev, Stoyanov; M Petkov, Iliev, Z Dimitrov

We say: Luxembourg 1-1 Bulgaria

Neither side enters this game with much confidence, so there could be limited quality in the final third, with a low-scoring encounter expected between two teams struggling to find consistency.

Bulgaria's dominance in this fixture could count for little given their recent struggles away from home, and with Luxembourg also short of form, a share of the spoils looks likely between the two sides.

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