Luxembourg v FYR Macedonia background
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Article summary
Besart Abdurahimi's goal settled the sides' first Group C meeting, with Luxembourg eager to get off the foot of the section as they take on FYR Macedonia for a second time.
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Article body
Luxembourg will look to lift themselves off the foot of Group C as they take on FYR Macedonia for a second time in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying.
Previous meetings
• Besart Abdurahimi's added-time goal settled the teams' first Group C meeting, FYR Macedonia winning 3-2 in Skopje.
• That was the nations' first competitive encounter. They had met twice before in friendlies. FYR Macedonia triumphed 4-1 in Luxembourg in 2008 but were beaten 2-1 when they returned in February 2012, Maurice Deville scoring his first two goals for his country either side of Ferhan Hasani's first for FYR Macedonia. Current coach Luc Holtz was in charge of Luxembourg for that match.
Disciplinary
• Luxembourg midfielder Mario Mutsch is absent through suspension. Daniel Da Mota, Dwayn Holter, Christopher Martins, Ben Payal and Chris Philipps are all a booking away from a one-game ban.
• FYR Macedonia forward Ferhan Hasani misses out through suspension. Besart Abdurahimi, Stefan Ristovski, Vance Sikov and Aleksandar Trajkovski are all a booking away from a one-game ban.
Form guide
• Luxembourg have lost all five of their Group C games since starting their campaign with a 1-1 home draw with Belarus.
• Luxembourg have scored just once in their last four competitive home fixtures (D1 L3) since overcoming Northern Ireland 3-2 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2013.
• FYR Macedonia have lost their last four Group C matches since squeezing past Luxembourg. They are without a win in 11 competitive away games (D1 L10) since a 2-0 victory in Andorra in October 2010.
Trivia and links
• Luxembourg committed 100 fouls in their first six qualifiers – seven more than any other team.
• FYR Macedonia forward Trajkovski turns 23 the day of the Luxembourg trip.
• In six encounters between the nations' clubs in UEFA competition, FYR Macedonia's sides have the record W4 D2 L0.
• In UEFA age-group tournaments, the countries have met five times, with FYR Macedonia winning three matches to Luxembourg's two. Most recently, the FYR Macedonia Under-19s edged Luxembourg 1-0 in October 2012.
