Armenia face off against Cyprus in an international friendly in Yerevan on Tuesday night, with both nations looking to bounce back after making a poor start to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign.
Tuesday's hosts were defeated 2-1 by Turkey on Saturday afternoon, while the visitors were on the receiving end of a 3-0 loss against Scotland.
Match preview
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After the defeat against Turkey, Armenia are now winless in their last eight matches in all competitions, during which time they were relegated from League B of the UEFA Nations League, picking up just three points in a total of six matches.
The Mountaineers' only victory in the competition came in their first match, defeating the Republic of Ireland 1-0 courtesy of Eduard Spertsyan's second-half strike, going on to lose their five remaining games, most of which in disappointing fashion.
Such underwhelming performances were worlds apart from the national side's performances in some of their early qualification games for the last World Cup, during which time they picked up time they picked up impressive wins against the likes of Romania and Iceland.
However, former manager Joaquin Caparros was never able to reach those heights again, leaving his role after a controversial 3-2 defeat against Ireland in his side's last Nations League outing.
Oleksandr Petrakov has since been appointed Armenia manager, overseeing his first match in charge against Turkey on Friday, but despite positive early signs, his side were ultimately unable to come away with anything.
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Cyprus were also unsuccessful in their first Euro 2024 qualifier, despite a spirited performance against Scotland in Glasgow, with a late Scott McTominay brace consigning them to a 3-0 defeat.
The White and Blues have never managed to qualify for a major international tournament, but they have picked up some memorable results in recent times nonetheless, defeating Greece 1-0 at home in their most recent Nations League campaign.
While the victory over their neighbours will live long in the memory for Cypriots, Temur Ketsbaia's side were still unable to avoid finishing bottom of their League C group, with a 5-1 defeat away at Kosovo sealing their fate in the last match.
Since then, there have been inconsistent showings from Cyprus, losing 2-0 at home to Bulgaria but managing to defeat Israel 3-2 away in a shock result, with Nicholas Ioannou firing home a late winner.
In their five previous meetings against Armenia, the White and Blues have won on three occasions, however they did come up short in the most recent clash, losing 3-2 in Yerevan in November 2017.
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan is without doubt Armenia's most famous player of all time, and Petrakov was hoping to lure the former Manchester United man out of retirement, but he rejected the opportunity and will not add to the 95 caps he has earned for his country.
One change Petrakov may be forced into is replacing Taron Voskanyan, who hobbled off injured in the first half against Turkey, and Styopa Mkrtchyan is his likely replacement at centre-back.
Ioannou saw red for Cyprus in stoppage time against Scotland after picking up a second yellow card, but he will not serve his suspension in Tuesday's friendly, and the left-back is likely to keep his place in the team.
Ioannis Pittas is the White and Blues' main threat in attack, scoring 13 goals in 28 games for Apollon in the Cypriot league last season, and he is set to lead the line again, being supported by Salernitana's Grigoris Kastanos in an advanced midfield role.
Armenia possible starting lineup:
Beglaryan; Hovhannisyan, Mkrtchyan, Haroyan, Arutiunian; Tiknizyan, Iwu, Spertsyan, Zelarayan; Briasco, Barseghyan
Cyprus possible starting lineup:
Dimitriou; Kousoulos, Gogic, Roberge; Antoniou, Kyriakou, Laifis, Artymatas, Ioannou; Kastonas, Pittas
We say: Armenia 1-1 Cyprus
Despite the disappointing defeat against Scotland last time out, Cyprus are showing signs of progression under the helm of Ketsbaia, and it would not be a surprise if the manager oversees a positive result on Tuesday, given the recent victory against Israel.
Armenia are the favourites on paper, but they have been in poor form of late, still without a win since early June, and so we expect the two nations to play out a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Dominic Lund
