Ukrainian side Dnipro-1, who have made an unbeaten start to their league season and a decent start to this Europa Conference League campaign, host Vaduz at the Kosicka Futbalova Arena in Slovakia on Thursday.
Their opponents Vaduz, who play in the second tier of the Swiss league because Liechtenstein does not have its own national league, have yet to win a league game or a Conference League game this season.
Match preview
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Dnipro have won all four of their league games so far this season, which includes a 3-0 win over Lviv on Saturday, when Oleksiy Hutsulyak scored his first two goals of the season to guide them to a comfortable win.
After a narrow loss to AZ Alkmaar in their first Conference League game, three first-half goals in their second fixture against Apollon, with two goals being scored by Artem Dovbyk, secured a 3-1 victory, leaving Dnipro lying second in their group.
Dovbyk has continued his fine scoring form from the previous league campaign, which was halted early due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where he found the net 14 times in 17 games. This season he has scored twice in the league, twice in the Conference League and he scored a brace for Ukraine in the international break against Armenia.
Defensively, Dnipro are also expected to be strong, as they are yet to concede in their league campaign so far, even with a defence that has not been settled, with the goalkeeper and one defender, Eduard Sarapii, being the only two to play every minute so far.
Back-to-back games against a struggling Vaduz side provides a great opportunity for the Ukrainian side to try and secure second spot in the group behind AZ Alkmaar and be in a strong position to qualify for the playoff round against third-placed Europa League teams.
Although their league campaign has been disappointing so far for Vaduz, their European story is one of triumph, as they became the first team from Liechtenstein to reach the group stages of a UEFA club competition.
Getting through three two-legged qualifying fixtures to reach the group stage is already a great achievement for the club and they picked up a point in their first game in the group too with a draw against Apollon, before finding out about the higher level of European football with a 4-1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar.
Tunahan Cicek scored three times in qualifying for the Europa Conference League, including the goal against Rapid Wien, which secured their victory and therefore their historic qualification for the group stages. The forward will be looking to make an impact on the competition, after assisting their only goal in the actual tournament, which was the equaliser against the Dutch side.
Vaduz will be looking to get the most out of their first proper European experience and make sure that if they return next season, they will know what they need to prepare for and also use any potential momentum gained in the Conference League to kickstart their league campaign.
Team News
Dnipro midfielder Domingo Blanco may make his first appearance in the Europa Conference League this season after returning to the squad against Lviv in their last fixture.
If Dnipro line up with a three-man midfield, it is likely that he will be joined by Hutsulyak and Ruslan Babenko, although they have used both the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 in the competition so far so the shape of the midfield will be interesting to see.
Busanello would also be expected to start ay left-back on Thursday, even though he was left on the bench this past weekend, as he started both Conference League games so far.
Goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel will be suspended for Vaduz after picking up a red card in their previous game against AZ Alkmaar and will likely be replaced by Gabriel Foser.
Vaduz will be expected to line up in a three-at-the-back formation with Cicek and Franklin Sasere leading the line.
Dnipro-1 possible starting lineup:
Walef; Busanello, Sarapii, Svatok, Adamyuk; Blanco, Babenko, Hutsulyak; Rubchynskyi, Dovbyk, Pikhalyonok
Vaduz possible starting lineup:
Foser; Traber, Isik, Gasser; Goelzer, Gajic, Dobras, Hasler, Ulrich; Cicek, Sasere
We say: Dnipro-1 3-0 Vaduz
With Dnipro in much better form in the league and looking more convincing so far in the Conference League, we expect them to win this game comfortably, with both their defensive solidity and firepower in attack.
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