Albania vs Latvia Prediction: Hosts can grind out a crucial home win

The expected top two of England and Serbia have risen to the head of the World Cup qualifying Group K standings and Albania and Latvia will both be looking for a victory to keep them in the hunt for at least a play-off place when they meet in Tirana on Tuesday night (19:45 BST).

Albania's only defeat in their first four games was in their opening match against the Three Lions at Wembley and they have since held Serbia to a goalless draw that kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive. Latvia are struggling to keep pace after failing to beat Serbia or Albania at home, but their 1-1 draw in their first clash against Tuesday's opponents provides some hope. Read on for our Albania vs Latvia predictions, as well as the latest match odds and team news.

Team News

Albania did not have a competitive match at the weekend but won 1-0 in a friendly against Gibraltar which coach Sylvinho used to give a runout to 16 players.

There is plenty of competition for the forward places with Armando Broja, Arber Hoxha, Rey Manaj, Mirlind Daku and Jasir Asani all in contention.

Latvia are unlikely to make many changes to their line-up after a solid effort in their 1-0 defeat by Serbia on Saturday.

Albania vs Latvia Odds

Albania are 4/11 favourites at home, with Latvia the 9/1 underdogs and the draw priced at 10/3.

It's 11/10 that there will be over 2.5 goals in the game and 8/11 for under 2.5, while it's 6/4 that both teams score in the match and 8/15 for at least one of the teams to fail to find the net.

Albania to win to nil @ 9/10

Albania have won once and drawn twice since opening their Group K campaign with a respectable 2-0 away defeat in England and they can improve their position in the group with a home win over Latvia on Tuesday.

The teams drew 1-1 in Riga in Albania's most recent group outing in June, but with better finishing they could have picked up all three points as they had 13 shots at goal compared to just six for the hosts.

Latvia captain Antonijs Cernomordijs was the centre of attention that day as he put the visitors ahead with an own goal before making amends with an equaliser deep into first-half stoppage time.

The Baltic side suffered a 1-0 home defeat against Serbia on Saturday and, while that was a reasonable result, they were again on the back foot for most of the contest, allowing 20 shots at their goal while mustering only eight themselves.

Albania have conceded only one goal in their last three games and are worth backing to win without conceding.

Armando Broja first goalscorer @ 9/2

Albania's Broja opted to play for his parents' nation despite being born in Slough and he has made the most of his international opportunities with 10 goals in 13 games for their Under-19 and Under-21 teams, before adding five goals from his 28 full caps.

Broja has plenty of Premier League experience having played for Chelsea, Everton, Southampton and Fulham before moving to Burnley for this season.

With his only start so far for the Clarets coming against Derby in the EFL Cup, an international goal would be a timely reminder of his talent and facing a Latvia defence whose only clean sheets in their last nine games have come against Andorra and Azerbaijan offers a great opportunity for him.

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