In the second leg of the Europa League's third qualifying round, Gibraltar's top-flight champions Lincoln Red Imps will look to overcome the odds when they host Belarusian champions Dinamo Minsk at Europa Point Stadium on Thursday.
The away side have a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg after winning 2-0 at Varosi Stadion last week on August 8.
Match preview
![Ethan Britto of Lincoln Red Imps is in action during the UEFA Champions League, First Qualifying Round, 1st Leg soccer match between Hamrun Spartans and Lincoln Red Imps, at the Centenary Stadium, in Ta Qali, Malta, on July 9, 2024. [on August 13, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/33/ethan-britto.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Ethan Britto of Lincoln Red Imps is in action during the UEFA Champions League, First Qualifying Round, 1st Leg soccer match between Hamrun Spartans and Lincoln Red Imps, at the Centenary Stadium, in Ta Qali, Malta, on July 9, 2024. [on August 13, 2024]")
© Imago
The hosts' 2-0 loss in the first leg was their fourth defeat in a row in European competition after Lincoln lost both legs of their clash against Qarabag FK in the second Champions League qualifying round, as well as the second leg of the previous round against Hamrun Spartans.
In fact, the home side have lost 21 of their 37 matches in the Champions League and Europa League and have won just nine times.
Lincoln had 44% possession against Dinamo Minsk and only managed to produce two shots on target.
Javier Munoz Arevalo's side have managed to score two or more goals in the Europa League on just two occasions, including a 3-0 win against Prishtina in August 2020.
It should be noted that Lincoln only lost twice in the 25 games of their title-winning campaign last term, but have lost their last four matches by a cumulative total of 10-0.
![Bernardo Lopes, captain of Lincoln Red Imps is in action during the UEFA Champions League, First Qualifying Round, 1st Leg soccer match between Hamrun Spartans and Lincoln Red Imps, at the Centenary Stadium, in Ta Qali, Malta, 09 July 2024 [July 20, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/29/bernardo-lopes.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Bernardo Lopes, captain of Lincoln Red Imps is in action during the UEFA Champions League, First Qualifying Round, 1st Leg soccer match between Hamrun Spartans and Lincoln Red Imps, at the Centenary Stadium, in Ta Qali, Malta, 09 July 2024 [July 20, 2024]")
© Imago
The visitors will believe that they have done enough to progress to the fourth and final round of qualifying considering they have not conceded more than two goals in any of their last 23 matches, and only conceded twice on four occasions in that period.
In the first leg, Dinamo Minsk had 56% possession and managed to register seven shots on target from their 12 attempts.
Boss Vadim Skripchenko will also be pleased with his side domestically, as while they are currently second in the table with 35 points from 15 games, they do have two games in hand on leaders Torpedo Zhodino, who are just one point ahead.
Skripchenko has been in charge since November 2022 and has an overall record of 40 wins, 11 draws and eight losses since his appointment.
Dinamo Minsk have won 12 of their last 15 fixtures and have kept two clean sheets in their last two games.
However, the visitors did lose their most recent away trip 2-0 on July 24 against Ludogorets in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
![Fedor Lapoukhov of Dinamo Minsk in action during UEFA Conference League First qualifying round, 1st leg match between FK Zeljeznicar and Dinamo Minsk at Grbavica Stadium on July 13, 2023. [on August 6, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/32/fedor-lapoukhov.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Fedor Lapoukhov of Dinamo Minsk in action during UEFA Conference League First qualifying round, 1st leg match between FK Zeljeznicar and Dinamo Minsk at Grbavica Stadium on July 13, 2023. [on August 6, 2024]")
© Imago
The hosts' deficit is not irrecoverable, but they will need to throw caution to the wind at some point if they do not make swift progress on the scoreline.
Considering this, it would not be a surprise to see Arevalo field a similar XI to the first leg, before bringing on the likes of Pedro Martin and Julian Valarino.
As for the visitors, they are unlikely to make many changes from the starting lineup that beat Lincoln 2-0 last time out, though Pedro Igor will be pushing for a start after scoring in the first leg.
Elsewhere, Dinamo Minsk could name Trofim Melnichenko, Steven Alfred and Ivan Bakhar in the forward line.
Lincoln Red Imps possible starting lineup:
Santana; Ayew, Munoz, Torrilla, Lopes, Sergeant; Britto, Casciaro, Nano; De Barr, Garcia
Dinamo Minsk possible starting lineup:
Lapoukhov; Pigas, Politevich, Gavrilovich, Lopes; Igor, Selyava, Kalinin; Melnichenko, Alfred, Bakhar
We say: Lincoln Red Imps 0-3 Dinamo Minsk (Minsk win 5-0 on aggregate)
Minsk's lead will almost certainly prove too much for Lincoln to overcome, and they could be vulnerable to counter-attacks when trying to break the visitors down.
Additionally, given Lincoln have lost their last four matches without scoring, it would not be surprising if they failed once again to get on the scoresheet.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
