Latvia – Armenia

Both teams will play actively in attack and score at least twice

From the tournament point of view, the upcoming match between Latvia and Armenia is of significance only for the guests. The hosts are bottom of the Group D table, having failed to pick up a single point in the opening five rounds. In turn, the Armenian team looks decent in a difficult company and is one win away from the desired qualification zone for Euro 2024. Wales have the same number of points, Turkey and Croatia have three more. The first meeting of the rivals in Yerevan took place in mid-June. The Armenian team scored the first goal in the 35th minute through Tiknizyan's effort but levelled the advantage with a goal in the middle of the second half. Armenia had to snatch victory with a penalty kick in the 90+1 minute, but Petrakov's charges did not let any doubts in their dominance on the pitch during the whole meeting. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites, offering odds of 1.92 on their victory. Latvia finished fifth in the World Cup qualification group, beating only Gibraltar. Last year, the Latvians won the League D of the Nations League against similarly "dwarfed" Liechtenstein and Andorra, winning a ticket to League C for the next season. Having started the current qualifying phase with a defeat in Cardiff, the Latvian team lost to Turkey and Armenia in June, before losing to Croatia and Wales in September. The lack of points and a goal difference of 3:13 obliges the home team to give their best in every subsequent match, so they should not count on a gutless defeat on Thursday. Petrakov took charge of the Armenian team at a time when the national team could not perform worse. After losing to the Turks in the first game, the Armenian squad made a big step forward in the following ones. Wales and Latvia were defeated, while Turkey barely escaped with a 1:1 penalty in the 88th minute. Last round, the Armenian team had an opportunity to test their ambitions in a match with the bronze medallist of the World Championship, but they failed: the Croatians won 1-0 in Yerevan. In the upcoming game, the visitors are rightly considered favourites, but the hosts have nothing to lose, so they will be aggressive in attack. We should expect at least two or three goals.