by The UEFA Women’s Nations League heads into the final round tomorrow. Only Turkey has confirmed its promotion, and so plenty of sides are still on the hunt for a spot into League B. All will be settled in these upcoming two match-days.
Group C1
The group is led by Malta who have won all their opening four games and so lead by twelve points. They could confirm promotion if they win their encounter against Moldova tomorrow. The Moldovans come into the match with good form having stunned second-placed Latvia in the previous round to a 3-3 draw.
Meanwhile, Latvia will be looking to keep the pressure by winning their fixture against Andorra, and hope that Moldova upset Malta. That would see the group be decided on the 5th of December with a direct encounter between Malta and Latvia.
On the other hand, though Andorra will have a tough task against Latvia, having lost the previous game by 4-0, they will be on the hunt for the best possible performance. This, knowing that a win would keep them in contention for a promotion play-off spot.
Group C2
Turkey have already confirmed their promotion, having won all their encounters thus far, with results between the other three nations ensuring that they are mathematically unreachable. Luxembourg and Lithuania are tied for second with four points, while Georgia trail on two points.
None of them are out of contention of the promotional play-off spots just yet. However, perhaps Luxembourg are in the best position to increase their tally with hopes of being one of the best three runner’s up to fight for a spot in the promotion play-offs. This, considering that the other two nations still have to battle Turkey who will be searching for an unblemished campaign.
Group C3
The group is led by Azerbaijan with ten points, who are followed by Cyprus on seven and Montenegro on six. The Faroe Islands are yet to notch a point. Azerbaijan would confirm promotion should they win the direct encounter against Cyprus tomorrow. However, the Cypriots will have the home crowd on their side.
Should Azerbaijan falter, while Montenegro get the better of the Faroe Islands, then the final match-day could present a three-horse race. However, with Montenegro and Cyprus facing each other, Azerbaijan would likely still be in the best position for automatic promotion as their final fixture will be at home against the bottom-placed Faroe Islands (whom they beat by 2-1 in the first round).
Group C4
Israel have put themselves in a good position having won three and drawn one, to secure ten points on the board. Estonia follow the Israeli’s with seven points, and Kazakhstan are in third with five points. The two will have a direct confrontation tomorrow, with Estonia looking to win the match to put the pressure on Israel by equalling their tally.
However, the leaders could confirm promotion if they win Saturday’s match against bottom-placed Armenia. Should Armenia manage to thwart them, and Estonia bag the result against Kazakhstan, then the final match-day would present a direct encounter between Israel and Estonia for promotion.
Group C5
The final group features just three nations. Kosovo lead with seven points, having done the double over bottom-placed North Macedonia, while having been held to a goalless draw by Bulgaria.
Tomorrow presents a direct confrontation between Kosovo and Bulgaria, where a win for Kosovo would confirm promotion. However, Bulgaria will have a real bit between their teeth knowing that getting a positive result would put them in an excellent position to pip them to the top spot. This is since the Bulgarians have a game in hand, which will pit them against North Macedonia on the final match-day.
The first teams to kick-off this final round in League C will be Latvia and Andorra, with a noon-time (CET) kick-off at the LNK Sporta Parks in Riga (live-streamed on TV4). Kosovo could be the first team with the opportunity to ensure its own promotion in the round if they get the better of Bulgaria, with their match starting at 13:00 CET. If Bulgaria hold on, then it would be over Malta to fight for a win against Moldova to ensure their place in League B on match-day 5 (15:00 CET, live-streamed on TVM News+ / WE Sport). The full list of fixtures may be consulted here.
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