FC Pyunik will host F91 Dudelange on Tuesday evening for the first leg of their second qualifying round contest in the Champions League.
The home side overcame CFR Cluj on penalties in the first qualifying round of this season's competition, while Dudelange eliminated KF Tirana courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate success.
Match preview
Pyunik won the Armenian Premier League for the 15th time last season, finishing one point clear of Ararat-Armenia at the top of the division, which saw them qualify for the first qualifying round of the European Cup.
The Academy played out a goalless draw with CFR Cluj in the first leg of their first qualifying round contest on July 5 before the two teams drew 2-2 in the return fixture on July 13; the Armenian outfit actually levelled late on in normal time and then extra-time before winning the penalty shootout 4-3.
Pyunik lost 8-0 on aggregate to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third qualifying round for the 2019-20 Europa League, and this is the first season that they are competing in the Champions League since 2015-16, when Molde beat them 5-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round.
Yegishe Melikyan's side will not begin their league season until the end of July, so they have not been in action since the second leg with CFR Cluj, which should stand them in good stead for this two-legged contest.
Dudelange, meanwhile, overcame Tirana in the first qualifying round of this season's competition to advance to the second qualifying round.
The Luxembourg outfit recorded a 1-0 victory over Tirana in the first leg of the contest on July 6 before running out 2-1 winners in the second leg one week later to secure a 3-1 aggregate success.
Dudelange advanced to the first qualifying round of this season's Champions League by finishing top of the Luxembourg National Division last season, collecting 67 points from 30 matches.
Carlos Fangueiro's side competed in the group stage of the Europa League in both 2018-19 and 2019-20, finishing fourth in their section on both occasions, but this is their first appearance in the Champions League since losing to Valletta in the first qualifying round in 2019-20.
Dudelange are also yet to begin their 2022-23 league campaign, with their season due to get underway on August 6, so both sides are able to fully focus on this two-legged affair.
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Team News
As mentioned, Pjunik have not been in action since the second leg of their first qualifying round contest, and the home side have not reported any fresh injury concerns ahead of this contest.
A 5-4-1 formation could again see Yusuf Otubanjo lead the line, with Artak Dashyan and Uros Nenadovic set to feature in the wide areas for the Armenian outfit.
Melikyan made six changes in the clash with CFR Cluj, but all the substitutions were tactical rather than enforced, so it could be a relatively straightforward decision for the manager when it comes to picking his side.
As for Dudelange, head coach Fangueiro could also decide to stick with the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Tirana last time out.
Eliot Gashi, Samir Hadji and Mohcine Hassan played as the front three against Tirana, and the trio are likely to continue in the final third of the field here providing that the former shakes off a small issue.
Gashi had to be replaced in the early stages of the second half last time out, but the 27-year-old is believed to be winning his battle to be fit for the first leg on Tuesday night.
FC Pyunik possible starting lineup:
Yurchenko; Gonzalez, Gajic, Vakulenko, Kovalenko, Juninho; Nenadovic, Cociuc, Zambrano, Dashyan; Otubanjo
F91 Dudelange possible starting lineup:
Fox; Diouf, Skenderovic, Da Costa, Stumpf; Morren, Bojic, Sinani; Gashi, Hadji, Hassan
We say: FC Pyunik 1-1 F91 Dudelange
Dudelange were impressive in the last round of the competition, while Pyunik also showed character to bounce back and overcome CFR Cluj. We are expecting this two-legged affair to be close and are struggling to separate the two teams when it comes to the first leg on Tuesday night.
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a F91 Dudelange win with a probability of 39.69%. A win for FC Pyunik had a probability of 34.46% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a F91 Dudelange win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.59%) and 0-2 (6.68%). The likeliest FC Pyunik win was 1-0 (8.77%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.27%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for F91 Dudelange in this match.
