San Marino vs Seychelles Match Analysis and Prediction

4 years ago 859

Two of the world’s lowest-ranked nations will meet in a friendly game on Wednesday when San Marino play host to Seychelles in Serravalle.

This contest was initially cancelled by Seychelles just over a week ago due to unforeseen circumstances, but the game is now back on and will take place as originally planned at the San Marino Stadium.

Sitting at the bottom of the FIFA world renkings in 210th place, San Marino are still regarded as football’s weakest nation, having lost 180 of their 187 official matches since they earned FIFA affiliation in 1990.

A narrow 1-0 friendly victory at home to Liechtenstein back in April 2004 is their only win on the international scene, while they have drawn six other matches including their most recent against Gibraltar in November 2020.

San Marino have since lost all of their last 18 matches, scoring just three times and conceding 67 goals in the process. However, they have shown minor signs of improvement in defence since the turn of the year, with their last two matches ending in narrow 1-0 defeats to Iceland and Malta respectivey in June.

Meanwhile, Seychelles have been recognised as a FIFA nation since 1986 when they lost 2-1 in their first competitive game against Mauritius.

Vivian Bothe’s side, who are ranked 198th in the world by FIFA, have participated in a total of 161 internationals, winning 24, drawing 28 and losing 109, and they head into Wednesday’s friendly hoping to end a 10-game winless streak.

The Pirates suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two matches away against Madagascar in the African Nations Championship, with a 1-0 defeat on July 23 followed by a 3-0 loss eight days later.

Seychelles will face a European nation for the first time in their history on Wednesday, and will fancy their chances of success.

San Marino vs Seychelles head to head

These two nations have not previously met in any competition and this will be their first meeting in a friendly match.

San Marino latest home form

San Marino have recently been on a poor run of form at home, having lost each of their 10 most recent matches. They were beaten 1-0 by Iceland in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored just one goal and conceded 17.

San Marino 0-10 England 15/11/21

San Marino 1-2 Lithuania 25/03/22

San Marino 0-2 Cabo Verde 28/03/22

San Marino 0-2 Malta 05/06/22

San Marino 0-1 Iceland 09/06/22

San Marino latest away form

San Marino have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having lost each of their nine most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Malta in their last away game in the Nations League. In their last five matches, they have conceded 17 goals while failing to score.

Albania 5-0 San Marino 08/09/21

Poland 5-0 San Marino 09/10/21

Hungary 4-0 San Marino 12/11/21

Estonia 2-0 San Marino 02/06/22

Malta 1-0 San Marino 12/06/22

Seychelles latest home form

Seychelles have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having been winless in their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Madagascar in their last home game in the African Nations Championship qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored three goals and conceded six.

Seychelles 2-2 Mauritius 20/01/20

Seychelles 0-0 Lesotho 23/03/22

Seychelles 0-1 Botswana 05/07/22

Seychelles 1-2 Comoros 10/07/22

Seychelles 0-1 Madagascar 23/07/22

Seychelles latest away form

Seychelles have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their nine most recent matches. They lost 3-0 to Madagascar in their last away game in the African Nations Championship qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored one goal and conceded 11.

Mauritius 0-0 Seychelles 19/03/22

Lesotho 3-1 Seychelles 27/03/22

Angola 3-0 Seychelles 07/07/22

Mauritius 2-0 Sechelles 18/07/22

Madagascar 3-0 Seychelles 31/07/22

San Marino news

San Marino could name a similar side which played against Malta last time out, with Andrea Grandoni and Alessandro D’Addario given the nod to move further forward as wing-backs.

Goalkeeper Elia Benedettini is set to continue between the sticks, while Nicola Nanni could lead the line in attack alongside Matteo Vitaioli.

Seychelles news

Seychelles defender Juninho Mathiot will be absent for this contest due to suspension after he received a straight red card in their last game against Madagascar.

Burton Albion’s Michael Mancienne made his international debut in July, but is ruled out with a knee injury, but captain Benoit Marie should start in defence.

Prediction and Odds

Both nations will view this contest as a realistic opportunity to come away with a positive result for the first time in a while and end their poor run of form.

San Marino head into every game as the underdogs, but we feel they will finally end their losing streak with at least a draw.

Odds: 1 2.22 X 2.02 2 2.28