Preview: Latvia vs. Armenia – prediction, team news, lineups

Both are looking to bounce back from defeats earlier in the week, Latvia and Armenia will lock horns in Liga C Group 4 i UEFA Nations League at Stadions Skonto on Sunday afternoon.

The wolves were unsuccessful away in North Macedonia on Thursday evening, while Havakakan suffered a shock defeat at home against the Faroe Islands.

Match preview

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Latvia’s winless run in the 2024-25 edition of the Nations League stretched to three games last time out as Sunday’s hosts in Riga traveled to North Macedonia and returned to their country with nothing tangible to show for their considerable efforts in Skopje.

After a goalless first half, the hosts managed to secure maximum points after making their dominance of possession and the clear-cut chances count, with central defense Nikola Serafimov disconnect the network Rihards Matrevics dooming the Wolves to a third defeat in the section.

Heading into the final round of group play on Sunday afternoon, Latvia languish in fourth place in the Group 4 standings, meaning they must beat Armenia and hope the Faroe Islands lose to North Macedonia to finish in the bottom. the top two.

Wolves will require a big improvement from their last home game in the Nations League on October 10, when goals from Jani Atanasov, Lirim Qamili and Eljif Elmas sealed a comfortable three-goal win for division winners North Macedonia at Stadions Skonto in Riga.

Since beating Sunday’s hosts Latvia in the opening round of the 2024-25 Nations League, Armenia have endured a four-game winless run in the competition, significantly damaging their chances of securing promotion to League B for the first time in their history.

Havakakan’s struggles in the autumn tournament continued on Thursday evening, with the surprise package the Faroe Islands managing another outstanding result away from home in Yerevan, where Viljormur Davidsen‘s penalty in the first period was enough for the visitors to grab all the points.

Heading into the final round of fixtures, Armenia are locked on four points at the foot of the Group 4 table, meaning the loser of Sunday’s clash will finish bottom of the section and risk relegation to Liga D via playoffs in March. .

Each of the last four meetings between Latvia and Armenia have gone in favor of the home side, with Havakakan’s last trip to Stadions Skonto in Riga ending in a 2-0 defeat in October 2023 when Janis Ikaunieks and Daniel Balodis found the net in a European Championship 2024 qualifier.

Latvia’s Nations League form:

Latvia form (all competitions):

Armenia Nations League form:

Armenia form (all competitions):

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© Imago

Shooting a blank at home to North Macedonia on Thursday night, Latvia are ready to make some changes to their attacking line on Sunday afternoon.

As a result, may suffer from Roberts Uldrikis and Vladislavs Gutkovskis will push for starts, which means that 20-year-olds Dario is sitting could fall off the page.

Aiming to force his way into the central defense trio from the start, 23-year-old Kristers Tobers impressed from the bench in Skopje last time out.

Substituted at half-time against the Faroe Islands, Edgar Sevikyan and Artur Miranyan is unlikely to feature from off for Armenia in Riga.

Impressing on the European stage so far this term, Grant-Leon Ranos and Gor Manvelyan could be given the chance to start this game by the head coach.

Latvia possible starting line-up:
Matrevic; Jurkovskis, Cernoordijs, Jagodinskis; Savalnieks, Jaunzems, Vapne, Zelenkovs, Ciganiks; Uldrikis, Gutkovskis

Armenia’s possible starting line-up:
Cancarevic; Hambardzumyan, Haroyan, Arutiunian, Tiknizyan; Iwu, Bichakhchyan, Shaghoyan, Ranos, Sperstyan; Zelarayan

We say: Latvia 2-2 Armenia

Both need a win to have a chance of finishing second and we expect a high-scoring affair between Latvia and Armenia this weekend.

Havakakan’s confidence will be low after the defeat to the Faroe Islands last time out, so we feel the visitors will only manage a point in Riga.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match, please click here.

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