Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Ta’Qali National Stadium will host Thursday’s UEFA Nations League game between Malta and Estonia, the two teams who defeated San Marino in their openers. Malta are eager to overtake Estonia in top position in Group 2, but this match will be anything but a walk in the park for the home team. Jan Busuttil could be recalled to the starting XI after scoring the opener in the 2-0 win over San Marino, while there are no fresh injury worries in the home team.
The Baltic outfit, on the other hand, aim to make amends for a heavy 5-0 loss to Argentina. Estonia, though, are not regarded as good travelers, which is probably the main reason why punters from all around the globe can find value in betting on draw. When the two teams met in a friendly in November 2017 Estonia crushed Malta 3-0.
Highlighted Player (André Schembri):
Andre Schembri is a Malta international who was born in Floriana on May 27, 1986. Schembri started his youth career at his hometown club Floriana, but he played for fellow Maltese side Hibernians at the start of his senior career. The experienced attacker scored ten goals in 44 appearances for the club before joining Marsaxlokk in 2005. After spending four seasons at the club he moved to Austria Karnten in 2009 and it has to be noted that he played on loan for the likes of Eintracht Braunschweig and Calr Zeiss Jena during his spell with Marsaxlokk.
Andre Schembri did not spend too much time in Austria as he moved to Hungary in the winter of 2010, signing a deal with Ferencvaros. The Maltese striker played for the likes of Panionios, Omonia, FSV Frankfurt, Omonia and Boavista before joining Apollon Limassol in June 2017. Andre Schembri signed a two-year deal with the Cypriot side and he quickly started paying off.
You should bear in mind that the Malta international scored four goals in the 2017/2018 Europa League qualifiers and, no doubt, he helped the Cypriot side book their place in the group stages of the European competition.
Highlighted Team (Estonia):
Former Soviet republic Estonia declared its independence on August 20, 1991 and they have been participating in FIFA and UEFA competitions ever since. The Estonians have yet to make it to the finals of a major tournament, but they often made life difficult for European giants in the qualifiers.
In 2010 Estonia did well to beat Serbia in Belgrade in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, but they eventually failed to qualify for the showpiece tournament. “The Blueshirts” welcome their rivals at Le Coq Arena in Tallinn and the capacity of the stadium is 10.500. Sergei Zenjov, who played for the likes of Blackpool, Karpaty and Torpedo Moscow in the past is one of the most famous Estonian footballers.
Ragnar Klavan is yet another notable footballer who plays for both Estonia national football team and Liverpool. The Estonians play their home games in blue shirts and black shorts, while they wear white shirts and white shorts when playing on the travels.