Neftci Baku vs Dinamo Tbilisi

Neftci Baku will be looking to complete the work and reach the next Champions League qualifying stage when they take on Dinamo Tbilisi in the return leg of their last-16 qualifying tie at the Bakcell Arena.

Despite enduring mixed fortunes across their three warm-up fixtures ahead of the first leg (W1, D1, L1), Neftci ran out 2-1 victors to put one foot in the preliminary quarter-finals. The hosts head into proceedings unbeaten in eight consecutive competitive matches (W6, D2), winning the last five in a row by an aggregate scoreline of 11-1. None of Neftci’s eight home games since the calendar flipped to 2021 have ended in a draw (W6, L2), with six of those results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet. If the ‘Oil Workers’ win here, it could be in ecstatic fashion, considering three of their last four competitive home triumphs have produced a winning margin of 2+ goals, with two of them yielding the identical 4-0 scoreline.

In the meantime, the visitors have blown hot and cold lately, registering partial success across their previous six competitive fixtures (W3, L3) and losing the last two in a row by the same 2-1 scoreline. Despite their form wobble, the ‘Blue-White’ have managed to keep their contest tight and down to the wire. Indeed, five of their last seven games in all competitions saw the sides separated at full-time by under 1.5 goals. Stalemate is seemingly off the table, given that none of Tbilisi’s 11 competitive road trips this calendar year have ended as a draw (W7, L4), with each of their last seven away matches won/lost seeing the victor record a shutout.