Having failed to break down a dogged Maribor defence in the first leg of their Champions League second-round qualifying tie, Sheriff Tiraspol will seek to turn their fortunes around in Tuesday's second leg at the Zimbru Stadium.
Meanwhile, their Slovenian counterparts will aim to stun their revered opponents to set up a third-round tie with either HJK Helsinki or Viktoria Plzen.
Match preview
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As numerous sides have learned during the early stages of Champions League qualifying, previous successes in the tournaments count for little unless the task at hand can be completed on the pitch, and Sheriff Tiraspol found that out the hard way.
The Moldovan champions could only post a 1-0 aggregate success against Bosnia-Herzegovina champions Zrinjski in round one, during which they laboured to a goalless draw away from home in the first leg, and lightning struck twice against Maribor.
Stjepan Tomas's side will once again have to turn the tie around at home to stand a chance of making it through to the group stages for the second year in a row, but it would be some fall from grace if Real Madrid's conquerors bowed out in the second round of qualifying.
The hosts are yet to concede a goal in 2022-23 Champions League qualifying, and the 0-0 stalemate in the first leg with Maribor did at least stretch their unbeaten run in all tournaments to 14 matches as they prepare to begin the defence of their 20th national title next weekend.
Many wondered how Maribor would cope on the attacking front after all-time leading goalscorer Marcos Tavares called time on his career at the end of last season, but the Slovenian champions would have accepted a goalless draw in the first leg before the opening whistle blew.
Unlike several teams involved in qualifying, Radovan Karanovic's men have not been granted time off from their domestic exploits amid their quest to progress in Europe, but they claimed their first win of the 2021-22 league season at the second attempt on Saturday.
A 3-2 success over ND Gorica helped Maribor to consign their opening 3-0 loss to Radomlje to history, and as is the case with Sheriff, they also drew the opening leg of their first-round Champions League tie with Shakhtyor Soligorsk 0-0 before prevailing 2-0 in the second.
Maribor already have three Champions League group-stage appearances to their name - the most recent of which came in 2017-18 - but something now has to give between two sides who still have their perfect defensive records intact.
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Team News
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Sheriff Tiraspol's only injury concern for the second leg should be recently-acquired attacker Iyayi Atiemwen, who missed the first leg with a knock and remains a doubt for Tuesday's encounter.
The hosts could do with the 26-year-old's attacking prowess as they aim to score for just the second time in this year's tournament, but Abou Ouattara can still provide an alternative option in the final third.
Captain Stjepan Radeljic will need to be careful in the second leg, as he would miss his side's next European encounter through suspension if he picks up a yellow card here.
Meanwhile, Maribor did not pick up any fresh injury concerns in league action at the weekend, but captain Martin Milec sustained a knee issue at the end of the first leg against Sheriff.
Number one goalkeeper Azbe Jug is also sidelined alongside Aleks Pihler - who came off in the first leg - and Marko Bozic, so Karanovic has a number of selection dilemmas to resolve.
Left-back Ignacio Guerrico deputised on the right-hand side for Milec at the weekend and may be required to do so again here, while 19-year-old Aljaz Antolin may be thrown into the action in midfield.
Sheriff Tiraspol possible starting lineup:
Abalora; Guedes, Radeljic, Kiki, Kpozo; Badolo, Kyabou, Lushkja; Ouattara, Yansane, Pernambuco
Maribor possible starting lineup:
Bergsen; Guerrico, Watson, Mitrovic, Sikosek; Antolin, Repas; Zugelj, Kronaveter, Brnic; Baturina
We say: Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 Maribor (Sheriff Tiraspol win 2-0 on aggregate)
Maribor may have marched to a confidence-boosting success at the weekend, but Karanovic has no natural replacement for injured captain Milec, and his side were exposed defensively on Saturday.
In contrast, Sheriff Tiraspol have far fewer injury concerns to work around and will hope to take advantage of Maribor's fatigue on home territory, so we can only back the Moldovan champions to advance and condemn Maribor to the Europa League.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
