Armenia vs Turkey

Turkey’s bid to qualify for Euro 2024 gets underway at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium as they take on Armenia in their qualifying Group D opener.

The imminent threat of war has overshadowed the commencement of Armenia’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. To compound the issue, their manager Oleksandr Petrakov’s efforts to persuade their all-time leading scorer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, to end his retirement have come to a cropper. Despite these setbacks, the Armenians will be looking secure their first-ever qualification for a major tournament as an independent nation. Despite suffering six defeats in their last seven internationals down the final stretch of 2022 (D1), Armenia won’t lack enthusiasm, given that four of their five international triumphs over the past two calendar years came in Yerevan of all places. Defensive improvement is necessary, though, considering they’ve conceded at least two goals in each of their last seven outings.

On the other hand, with Croatia and Wales in this group, earning maximum points against the weaker teams is crucial for Turkey to bolster a chance of ensuring a third successive EURO appearance. Hitting the road is unlikely to trouble the Turks after missing out on the 2022 World Cup, as they’ve been victorious in four of their last six away internationals (L2), which helped them secure promotion to UEFA Nations League B in the summer of 2022. Turkey’s style of play doesn’t usually involve settling for a stalemate, as evidenced by their record of 11 competitive away matches without a draw (W6, L5). As they prepare to face Armenia, the odds indicate that they are likely to enhance this record and claim their second victory in the country, having won their only previous encounter 2-0 in 2008.