Nations League | League C

Nov 17, 2024 at 2pm UK

Stadions Skonto

Latviavs.Armenia

Match preview

Latvia's run without a win in the 2024-25 Nations League continued for a third match last time out. The Sunday hosts in Riga travelled to North Macedonia and returned to their country with nothing tangible to show for their considerable efforts in Skopje.

After a goalless first half, the hosts managed to get the three points after making the most of their possession and clear-cut chances. Centre-back Nikola Serafimov scored to beat Rihards Matrevics, which meant the Wolves lost for the third time in the section.

As we head into the final round of group stage fixtures on Sunday afternoon, Latvia are currently sitting in fourth place in Group 4. To finish in the top two, they'll need to beat Armenia and hope that the Faroe Islands lose to North Macedonia.

The Wolves will need to play a lot better than they did in their last home game in the Nations League on 10 October. That was against the section winners, North Macedonia, and the Latvian team lost 3-0. The goals were scored by Jani Atanasov, Lirim Qamili and Eljif Elmas. The game was played at Stadions Skonto in Riga.

Armenia have had a tough run since beating Sunday's hosts Latvia during the opening round of fixtures in the 2024-25 Nations League. They've gone four games without a win, which has made it much harder for them to secure promotion to League B for the first time in their history.

Havakakan's poor run of form in the tournament continued on Thursday night. The Faroe Islands, who have been one of the surprise teams in the competition, secured another impressive away win in Yerevan. Viljormur Davidsen's penalty in the first half was enough to give the visitors all three 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.

Recent Performance

Latvia Nations League form:LWLDL

Latvia form (all competitions):WLWLDL

Armenia Nations League form:WLDLL

Armenia form (all competitions):WWLDLL

Team News

Latvia are set to make some alterations to their attacking line for Sunday afternoon after a disappointing performance against North Macedonia on Thursday night.

This means that players like Roberts Uldrikis and Vladislavs Gutkovskis will be trying to get into the starting line-up, which could mean that 20-year-old Dario Sits won't play.

He's aiming to force his way into the centre-back trio from the start, and 23-year-old Kristers Tobers impressed off the bench in Skopje last time out.

It looks like Edgar Sevikyan and Artur Miranyan won't be starting for Armenia in Riga. They were replaced during half-time against the Faroe Islands.

Grant-Leon Ranos and Gor Manvelyan have done well in Europe this season, and the coach might give them a chance to start in this game.

Possible starting lineup

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