Both looking to bounce back following defeats earlier in the week, Latvia and Armenia will lock horns in League C Group 4 of the UEFA Nations League at Stadions Skonto on Sunday afternoon.
The Wolves were unsuccessful on the road at North Macedonia on Thursday night, whilst Havakakan suffered a shock defeat at home to the Faroe Islands.
Match preview
Latvia's winless run in the 2024-25 edition of the Nations League stretched to three matches last time out, when Sunday's hosts in Riga travelled to North Macedonia and returned to their country with nothing tangible to show for their considerable efforts in Skopje.
Following a goalless first half, the hosts managed to secure maximum points after making their domination of possession and the clear-cut chances count, with centre-back Nikola Serafimov breaching the net of Rihards Matrevics to condemn the Wolves to a third defeat of the section.
Heading into the final round of fixtures in the group stage on Sunday afternoon, Latvia are languishing down in fourth position in the Group 4 standings, meaning that they need to beat Armenia and hope that the Faroe Islands lose to North Macedonia in order to finish inside the top two.
The Wolves will require a vast improvement from their most recent home fixture in the Nations League on October 10, when goals from Jani Atanasov, Lirim Qamili and Eljif Elmas sealed a comfortable three-goal victory for section winners North Macedonia at Stadions Skonto in Riga.
Since beating Sunday's hosts Latvia during the opening round of fixtures in the 2024-25 Nations League, Armenia have endured a four-game winless stretch in the competition, significantly damaging their chances of securing promotion to League B for the first time in their history.
Havakakan's struggles in the tournament this Autumn continued on Thursday night, when surprise package Faroe Islands managed another standout result on the road in Yerevan, where Viljormur Davidsen's penalty in the first period was enough for the visitors to snatch all of the points.
Approaching the concluding round of matches, Armenia are locked on four points at the foot of the Group 4 table, meaning that the loser of Sunday's clash will finish bottom of the section, putting themselves at risk of relegation to League D via the playoffs in March.
Each of the last four meetings between Latvia and Armenia have gone in favour of the home side, with Havakakan's most recent trip to Stadions Skonto in Riga ending in a 2-0 defeat in October 2023, when Janis Ikaunieks and Daniels Balodis found the net in a Euro 2024 qualifying contest.
Team News
Firing a blank at the home of North Macedonia on Thursday night, Latvia are set to make some alterations to their attacking line for Sunday afternoon.
As a result, the likes of Roberts Uldrikis and Vladislavs Gutkovskis will be pushing for starts, meaning that 20-year-old Dario Sits could drop out of the side.
Aiming to force his way into the centre-back trio from the start, 23-year-old Kristers Tobers impressed off the bench in Skopje last time out.
Replaced during the half-time interval against the Faroe Islands, Edgar Sevikyan and Artur Miranyan are unlikely to feature from the off for Armenia in Riga.
Impressing on the European stage so far this term, Grant-Leon Ranos and Gor Manvelyan could be handed the chance to start this fixture by the head coach.
Latvia possible starting lineup:
Matrevics; Jurkovskis, Cernomordijs, Jagodinskis; Savalnieks, Jaunzems, Vapne, Zelenkovs, Ciganiks; Uldrikis, Gutkovskis
Armenia possible starting lineup:
Cancarevic; Hambardzumyan, Haroyan, Arutiunian, Tiknizyan; Iwu, Bichakhchyan, Shaghoyan, Ranos, Sperstyan; Zelarayan
We say: Latvia 2-2 Armenia
Both needing a win to have any chance of finishing second, we are expecting a high-scoring affair between Latvia and Armenia this weekend.
Havakakan's confidence will be low following the defeat to Faroe Islands last time out, so we feel that the visitors will only manage a point in Riga.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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