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Wales will be hoping to avenge an embarrassing 4-2 home defeat in the reverse fixture when they travel to Armenia this weekend. The game takes place on Saturday afternoon at 2pm UK time.
Armenia
Notwithstanding their heroics in Cardiff, Armenia aren’t in aren’t in a particularly promising position when it comes to qualifying for Euro 2024. The hosts have taken just a point from their last three games and now find themselves sat in fourth on just seven points. If they fail to take anything from this game and Croatia pick up three points, their campaign is over. Furthermore, even a point in Yerevan is unlikely to be enough.
Match has ended
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Armenia’s home form is a bit of a concern. Naturally, they struggled against both Croatia and Turkey whereas they required a 90th minute penalty to see off Latvia at this venue. Although Armenia are ranked several places below this weekend’s opponents, they entered the qualifying campaign with a quiet confidence. The majority of that confidence has been eroded over the last couple of months.
Armenia have performed far better on the road and as well as winning in the reverse fixture, they also held out for a point against Turkey in a fairly politically-charged fixture.
Lucas Zelarayan, who now plays his football in Saudi Arabia, was the star of the show in the previous meeting between these sides with Armenia finding themselves able to easily pick off the Welsh defence.
Wales
Rob Page’s men looked to have surrendered their chance of qualification when they were defeated by Armenia back in June, however, they’ve responded positively to that setback and they have put themselves firmly back in contention.
They inevitably struggled in Turkey, however, they beat Latvia as expected before producing a terrific performance to down Croatia despite going off as outsiders that day. That victory puts them level with Croatia (who will be expected to beat Latvia this weekend) and gives them every chance of qualifying for the tournament.
Nevertheless, Page has a few injury issues to contend with ahead of this and a few players have also dropped out of the squad including the impressive Charlie Savage. Wes Burns still hasn’t recovered from an injury picked up on the previous international break with Aaron Ramsey also on the sidelines. However, Joe Morrell is available again and the return of Brennan Johnson is a significant boost to a side who often lack quality in the final third.
Although Wales have a reputation for being strong at home, they have a decent away record overall and held Croatia to a 1-1 draw on their travels back in March. During their World Cup qualifying campaign, they drew 2-2 in Czechia, beat Georgia, Belarus and Estonia on their own patch. Although none of these nations can be considered as heavyweights, they probably aren’t too different to this weekend’s opponents.
Head to Head
As we’ve explained, Armenia picked up a surprise 4-2 victory in the reverse fixture in Cardiff earlier this calendar year. The only prior meetings between these two teams also came in the Euro qualifiers back in 2001. The pair drew 0-0 in Wales and they also shared the points in the previous encounter (2-2). It means that Wales have never beaten Armenia in their three meetings so far and Rob Page’s side will be looking to end that unwanted record on Saturday afternoon.
Key Betting Stats
- BTTS has landed in four of Armenia’s six qualifiers
- Each of Armenia’s last five goals in qualifiers have been scored by different players
- In their last four fixtures across all competitions, Wales have conceded just a single goal (vs Croatia)
- Seven of Wales’ last eight Euro qualifiers away from home have contained either one or two goals
- Both Wales and Armenia have scored eight times during the qualifying stage, however, Armenia have conceded one more goal than this weekend’s opponents.
- Wales has just 28% possession against Croatia despite winning 2-1.
Match Prediction
This is likely to be tight and there won’t be much between these two teams. Nevertheless, Wales’ record on the road is pretty solid and Armenia have struggled in front of their own fans. The visitors have plenty to play for the return of Brennan Johnson could make a sizeable difference.
Winning Combo
Wales to Win and Under 3.5 Goals
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Best Bookmaker
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