Kazakhstan entertain Finland in their Group D 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture on Tuesday.
The hosts are winless in the qualifying campaign and find themselves bottom of the table. They suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bosnia and Herzegovina in their previous outing, with Smail Prevljak bagging a brace.
Finland are just two points above the hosts in the standings and suffered a narrow 2-1 loss against Ukraine in their previous outing, with all three goals scored in the first half.
Kazakhstan vs Finland Head-to-Head
The two teams have locked horns four times across all competitions. Their first-ever encounter in 2006 was a friendly game, while the remaining three have been qualifying fixtures, two Euro qualifiers and one World Cup qualifier.
Finland have a 100% record in this fixture and have conceded just twice against the hosts. They last met at Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the reverse fixture in September. Joel Pohjanpalo scored the only goal of the game to seal the three points for the then hosts. It was the only win of the qualifying campaign for Huuhkajat.
Kazakhstan form guide (all competitions): L-D-L-D-L
Finland form guide (all competitions): L-L-W-D-L
Kazakhstan vs Finland Team News
Kazakhstan
Abat Aymbetov, Azat Nurgaliev and Artur Shushenachev have withdrawn from the squad on account of injuries. Vladislav Vassiljev served a one-game suspension in the last game and should return to the starting XI here.
Injured: Artur Shushenachev, Abat Aymbetov, Azat Nurgaliev
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Finland
Daniel O'Shaughnessy and Jere Uronen were not selected in the initial squad on account of injuries and remain unavailable for this game. Tim Sparv was unable to shrug off fitness issues and was not selected in the final squad.
Nikolai Alho suffered an injury against Ukraine and will not travel to Astana with the squad. No replacement has been announced for the defender.
Injured: Daniel O'Shaughnessy, Jere Uronen, Tim Sparv, Nikolai Alho
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Kazakhstan vs Finland Predicted XI
Kazakhstan Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Igor Shatsky; Yury Logvinenko, Serhiy Malyi, Aleksandr Marochkin; Marat Bystrov, Samat Zharynbetov, Islambek Kuat, Yan Vorogovskiy; Vladislav Vasilyev, Georgy Zhukov; Oralkhan Omirtayev
Finland Predicted XI (3-5-2): Lukas Hradecky; Leo Väisänen, Joona Toivio, Paulus Arajuuri; Albin Granlund, Jukka Raitala, Nicholas Hämäläinen, Glen Kamara, Onni Valakari; Robin Lod, Teemu Pukki
Kazakhstan vs Finland Prediction
Kazakhstan and Finland have scored five goals so far in the World Cup qualifiers, but the hosts have a poorer defensive record and have let in 10 goals. They are winless in the campaign so far, so it will be difficult for them to record a win here.
We predict a narrow win for the visiting side, which might help them keep their playoff spot alive.
Prediction: Kazakhstan 0-1 Finland