Preview: San Marino vs. Albania - prediction, team news, lineups

Albania will be looking to record their second victory of the World Cup Qualifying campaign on Wednesday when they travel to take on San Marino.

The hosts suffered heavy defeats to England and Hungary in the first two games of qualifying, while Albania lost to England after beating Andorra in the first game.

Match preview

© Reuters

San Marino suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Hungary on Sunday, as Adam Szalai, Roland Sallai and Nemanja Nikolic all scored goals to seal a dominant win for the visitors.

Before that, they were on the wrong end of a 5-0 thrashing against England at Wembley Stadium.

Early goals from James Ward-Prowse, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Raheem Sterling quickly put the Three Lions in complete control, before Calvert-Lewin netted again alongside Ollie Watkins in the second half to cap off a dominant performance from Gareth Southgate's men.

La Serenissima now have to go back 17 years for their most recent victory, when they defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly in April 2004, which remains their only international win.

Meanwhile, Franco Varrella's side are without a goal in their last seven outings, while they have conceded 16 goals in that time.

That record could be worsened further on Wednesday too, as they welcome an Albania side who have made a positive start to the qualifying campaign.

© Reuters

Albania started the international round of fixtures with a dominant performance away at Andorra, and they would go on to win 1-0 thanks to an Ermir Lenjani goal before half time.

Most recently, Edoardo Reja's men suffered a 2-0 home defeat to England, after a resilient defensive performance.

While the Three Lions did seal all three points thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Mason Mount, Albania's solid performance for the majority of the game will definitely provide encouragement for Reja.

The Red and Blacks will now look to finish the international break with a victory which will make it two wins out of three to start their qualifying campaign, as they look to progress to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Team News

© Reuters

San Marino goalkeeper Elia Benedettini put in a commendable performance in the 5-0 defeat to England, and that scoreline could have been much worse from their perspective if it was not for some of his crucial saves.

Benedetinni is the country's most notable player, currently plying his trade in Italy's third tier with Cesena.

Meanwhile, captain Davide Simoncini holds San Marino's appearance record, with the defender having 67 international caps.

As shown in their recent results, Varrella's side lack goals, with forward Filippo Berardi and defender Mirko Palazzi the only players in the squad with international goals to their names, having scored one each.

After a conservative performance against an exciting England side, Albania could switch to a much more attacking approach for this game against a far weaker outfit.

Sokol Cikalleshi is expected to feature prominently in attack, having netted 10 goals from 39 international appearances.

He could be joined by Barcelona B forward Rey Manaj, who has netted eight goals in 15 appearances at club level this campaign.

Elseid Hysaj is arguably one of Albania's most successful footballing exports, having played over 100 games for Serie A outfit Napoli, and he will be a major player down the right flank for the Red and Blacks.

San Marino possible starting lineup:
Benedettini; Battistini, Fabbri, Brolli, Rossi, Palazzi; Lunadei, Golinucci, Mularoni; Nanni, Berardi

Albania possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Ismajli, Kumbulla, Djimsiti; Hysaj, Laci, Bare, Gjasula, Lenjani; Manaj, Cikalleshi

We say: San Marino 0-3 Albania

It is difficult to predict anything other than a comfortable victory for the visitors on Wednesday, given San Marino's lowly standing on the international stage.

Sadly, La Serenissima look weak in all areas of the pitch, and that should be exploited by an improving Albania side who will look to close the international break with six points from three games.