AEK Larnaca will welcome Dnipro-1 to Cyprus on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round playoff tie.
The two sides previously met in Europa League qualifying this season, with Thursday's hosts coming out on top, and they will now square off for a place in the final 16 of Europe's tertiary competition.
Match preview
Following their second-placed finish in the Cypriot First Division last season, AEK Larnaca began their European campaign in the second round of Champions League Qualifying, but after dropping out at the hands of FC Midtjylland, they progressed to the Europa League group stage with aggregate triumphs over Partizan and Dnipro-1.
That two-legged victory over their upcoming playoff opponents came in relatively comfortable fashion, as the Green-Yellows won 2-1 in Slovakia and 3-0 at home, before entering the group stage and putting their first points on the board at the second attempt in a 1-0 defeat of Dynamo Kyiv thanks to Adam Gyurcso's early goal.
Following a pair of defeats to Fenerbahce, Jose Luis Oltra's side were left with no hope of advancing in the Europa League, but 3-3 and 1-1 draws with Dynamo Kyiv and Rennes respectively in their last two matches ensured they pipped the former to third spot and salvaged a playoff place in Europe's third competition.
They now return to continental action having displayed an eye-catching run of form on the domestic front in recent months, establishing themselves at the summit of the Cypriot top flight with a 15-match unbeaten run, including 13 victories, albeit with the most recent of those outings being a 1-1 draw at home to basement side Akritas Chlorakas, in which they only salvaged a point in the 89th minute through Ivan Trickovski.
Now turning their attention back to their European campaign, in their final chance at knockout football this season, the Green-Yellows will aim to dish out another aggregate defeat to Dnipro-1 to advance to the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League.
Following their aggregate defeat to the Cypriot side in qualifying in August, Thursday's visitors entered the Europa Conference League group stage and began with a defeat to AZ Alkmaar, before scoring their first three points in another trip to Cyprus as they beat Apollon Limassol 3-1 courtesy of an Artem Dovbyk brace after Valentyn Rubchynskyi's early opener.
Oleksandr Kucher's side then played out a 2-2 draw with Vaduz, before wrapping up a top-two finish with back-to-back wins, firstly beating Vaduz 2-1 in the reverse fixture before Oleksandr Pikhalyonok netted the only goal to complete a double over Apollon Limassol.
While a 2-1 defeat away at AZ Alkmaar in their closing group game did mean they missed out on top spot and a guaranteed place in the final 16, Dnipro-1 had already done enough to ensure they have another shot at advancing in the competition in another meeting with the Cypriot leaders.
Following the stoppage of domestic action in Ukraine, when they sat at the summit of the top flight, Kucher's men will now return to competitive action for the first time since November, having recently come out on top in friendlies against Mura and Auda, with the aim of avenging their previous qualifying defeat and getting on the front foot in the two-legged playoff tie with a positive result in Cyprus.
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Team News
AEK Larnaca's attack will be spearheaded by Rafael Lopes, who has netted eight goals in all competitions so far this season including two in the Europa League group stage, while top scorer Omri Altman is unlikely to feature having missed their last two league matches.
Nenad Tomovic and Hrvoje Milicevic were ever-presents in the middle of the back four in their group campaign and should again partner up on Thursday, while Gus Ledes and Pere Pons will continue to operate in the engine room.
The Dnipro-1 attack will again be heavily reliant on Arten Dovbyk, who netted 11 goals in 14 Ukrainian top-flight appearances before domestic action was put on hold, while also hitting the net five times in six matches in the Conference League group stage.
Oleksandr Pikhalyonok has also chipped in with seven goals in all competitions so far this term, and he will again offer support behind the lone frontman, with Yanis Hamache and Oleksandr Nazarenko likely to feature on the wings.
Elsewhere, Eduard Sarapiy is a key figure in defence and should again be joined by Oleksandr Svatok in the middle of a back four in front of Max Walef between the sticks.
AEK Larnaca possible starting lineup:
Toumpas; Christoforou, Milicevic, Tomovic, Angel; Ledes, Pons; Rosales, Mamas, Gyrcso; Lopes
Dnipro-1 possible starting lineup:
Walef; Adamiuk, Svatok, Sarapiy, Busanello; Babenko, Rubchynskyi; Nazarenko, Pikhalyonok, Hamache; Dovbyk
We say: AEK Larnaca 3-1 Dnipro-1
AEK Larnaca comfortably got past the Ukrainian outfit when they last met in August, and with home advantage in the first leg and the visitors lacking match sharpness, we can only envisage another relatively routine victory for Oltra's men on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
