Qarabag are looking to make home advantage count when they host CSKA Sofia in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League second round qualifier.
The hosts have plenty of experience at this level and given their recent record on home soil, will be confident of claiming the upper hand in this clash.
Key Stats
- Qarabag have won five of their last seven matches in all competitions.
- Qarabag have won their last three home matches in all competitions.
- CSKA Sofia have lost their last two matches against Qarabag.
Qarabag with the Edge
There have only been three previous friendly meetings between the two teams, with Qarabag claiming two victories and CSKA Sofia winning once. The most recent clash was a friendly in 2023, which ended 1-0 in favour of the Azerbaijanis.
Qarabag Maintaining European Reputation
Qarabag have plenty of experience at this level of European football and even reached the playoffs of the Champions League last season. Having slipped to the Europa League this term, manager Qurban Qurbanov will be targeting a deeper run in the main competition.
The club from Azerbaijan showed their quality in the previous round, doing the double over Vestri for a 6-0 aggregate victory. They were comfortable in both meetings, claiming 3-0 triumphs across the two clashes.
Both results are part of a solid run of form for Qarabag, who have won five of their last seven matches in all competitions. They also have a solid home record, winning their last three matches in front of their fans.
CSKA Sofia Back in Europe
CSKA Sofia also had smooth progress from the previous round, doing the double over Derry City for a 5-3 aggregate victory. They earned a 3-2 home win in the first meeting before edging out a 2-1 victors in the second leg.
Having mostly played friendlies in the last few months, those two matches are the first taste of competitive action for CSKA Sofia this season. Hristo Yanev’s team began their domestic campaign last weekend, playing out a 0-0 draw with Slavia Sofia.
While CSKA Sofia appear to be in good form at the moment, they are not as experienced at this level. Their last European campaign came in the 2020-21 Europa League, where they crashed out in the group stage.
Team News and Predicted Line-ups
Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Mateusz Kochalski; Matheus Silva, Badavi Huseynov, Bence Varkonyi, Bruno Langa; Pedro Bicalho, Marko Jankovic; Abdellah Zoubir, Kady Borges, Jady Mouaddib; Zakaria Sawo.
Qarabag are likely to stick with much of the team that eased past Vestri in the previous round. Sawo and Mouaddib were both on target and should retain their place in attack while Huseynov is expected to continue at the heart of defence.
CSKA Sofia (3-5-2): Dimitar Evtimov; Teodor Ivanov, Petko Panayotov, Facundo Rodriguez; Pastor, Isaac Solet, Bruno Jordao, Stefano Sensi, Angelo Martino; Ioannis Pittas, Leandro Godoy.
Pittas and Godoy were second-half substitutes for CSKA Sofia in the domestic clash last weekend and should return to the starting line-up. Panayotov was fully rested and is expected to earn a start on Thursday.