Urartu and Neman Grodno trade tackles in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League first qualification round on Thursday at Urartu Stadium.
The hosts haven't been in action since wrapping up their Armenian Premier League with a 2-0 defeat to Van at the same venue in May. Izuchukwu Okonkwo broke the deadlock in the fourth minute before assisting Kajally Drammeh 10 minutes into the second half as Van claimed all three points.
Neman, meanwhile, are coming off a 2-0 home win over Isloch in the Belarussian Vysshaya Liga last week. They went ahead through Anton Suchkov's third-minute strike before Maksim Kravstov made sure of the result with five minutes remaining.
The Grodno outfit now shift their focus to the continent, where they booked their spot at this stage of the Conference League qualifiers as Belarussian Cup winners, while Urartu finished third in the Armenian Premier League.
The winner of this tie will receive a bye to the third qualification round following Dunajská Streda's withdrawal from the tournament.
Urartu vs Neman Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides.
- Neman are unbeaten in five games, winning four.
- Urartu's defeat to Van snapped their seven-game unbeaten run, winning four.
- Neman have won one of their eight away games in European competition, losing three.
- Urartu have lost seven of their last eight home games in European competition.
- Four of Neman's last five games to produce a winner have been decided by one-goal margins.
- Four of Urartu's last six games in UEFA club competition qualifiers have had goals at both ends.
Urartu vs Neman Prediction
Urartu might take some time to get going, having not been in action for almost two months. However, they have to capitalise on their home advantage to boost their chances of advancing to the next round of the qualifiers.
Neman, for their part, are flying high and have competed in the Conference League Qualifiers in the last three seasons. Four of their last seven away games in qualification for European football have ended in goalless stalemates, though, and the trend could continue.
Prediction: Urartu 0-0 Neman
Urartu vs Neman Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Both teams to score: No
Tip 3 - Under 2.5 goals