FC Zurich will be looking to overturn a one-goal deficit when they play host to Qarabag FK at Stadion Letzigrund for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday.
The Azerbaijani visitors currently lead 3-2 from the first leg, with the winners of this tie facing either Ferencvaros or Slovan Bratislava in the third qualifying round.
Match preview
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Zurich suffered their third successive defeat across all competitions when they lost their five-goal thriller to Qarabag last week.
FCZ were trailing 2-0 at the break courtesy of strikes from Kady and Ibrahima Wadji before Lindrit Kamberi pulled one back in the 65th minute. However, Qarabag went straight up the other end from their kickoff and immediately restored their two-goal cushion with another strike from Wadji.
Franco Foda's side managed to keep the tie alive when Mirlind Kryeziu converted from the penalty spot five minutes from time, providing the Swiss outfit with hope of qualifying for their first Champions League group stage since the 2009-10 campaign.
Zurich have since responded with a goalless draw at home to Luzern in their second Swiss Super League game of the new season. While a draw may be considered an underwhelming result for the reigning top-flight champions, Foda's men managed to keep a clean sheet after conceding 10 goals in their previous three matches in all competitions, including a 4-0 loss to Young Boys in their opening league fixture.
Zurich will be hoping to turn their fortunes around on home soil, where they have impressed over the last 12 months as they have lost only two of their last 23 matches at Stadion Letzigrund across all competitions.
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After securing a 5-2 aggregate win over Lech Poznan in the previous round, Qarabag now hold a one-goal advantage over Zurich as they bid to move one step closer to qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2017-18.
Aside from conceding a late penalty, Gurban Gurbanov will have taken plenty of positives from his side's performance in the first leg, and the Horsemen know that securing at least a draw on Wednesday will be enough to send them through to the next round.
Defeat on aggregate, however, would see them drop into the Europa League third qualifying round, with the same applying for Zurich if they were to lose the two-legged tie.
Qarabag – who reached the Europa Conference League knockout rounds last season – are yet to begin the defence of their top-flight title and are therefore focused fully on getting the job done against Zurich and securing their place in the next round.
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Team News
Zurich are set to be without defender Becir Omeragic due to a muscle injury, but otherwise Foda has a fully-fit squad to choose from for the second leg.
Kryeziu is therefore set to continue at centre-back, joining Kamberi, Fidan Aliti and Adria Guerrero in the back four.
Eighteen-year-old Italy international Wilfried Gnonto, who scored 10 goals in 35 games for Zurich last season, is expected to be handed another start in attack alongside Antonio Marchesano and Fabian Rohner, while 36-year-old former Napoli man Blerim Dzemaili is likely to start in centre-midfield.
As for Qarabag, they have a clean bill of health and Gurbanov is unlikely to make too many changes to the starting lineup that he named last week.
Summer signing Julio Romao was not registered in time to take part in the first leg, but the midfielder could be handed his debut on Wednesday at the expense of either fellow new recruit Marko Jankovic or Richard Almeida.
Kady and Wadji, who scored 36 goals between them across all competitions last season, are both expected to start in attack, with the former operating on the right flank and the latter playing down the middle.
FC Zurich possible starting lineup:
Brecher; Kamberi, Kryeziu, Aliti, Guerrero; Boranijasevic, Hornschuh, Dzemaili; Rohner, Marchesano, Gnonto
Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:
Magomedaliyev; Vesovic, Medina, Medvedev, Bayramov; Almeida, Romao; Kady, Ozobic, Zoubir; Wadji
We say: FC Zurich 1-1 Qarabag FK (Qarabag FK to win 4-3 on aggregate)
Both teams caused problems for one another in the final third last week and more goalmouth action is to be expected in the second leg.
However, we can see Qarabag frustrating their opponents and forcing them to share the spoils on Wednesday, which would be enough for the visitors to progress to the next round on aggregate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
