Sheriff Tiraspol will be looking to book their spot in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in their history, as they prepare to take on Dinamo Zagreb over two legs of a playoff tie.
The Moldovan outfit impressively beat Red Star Belgrade 2-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round to advance to this stage, while Dinamo negotiated their way past a tricky Legia Warsaw outfit.
Match preview
Sheriff finished top of the 2020-21 Moldovan National Division, picking up 99 points from their 36 matches, which saw them qualify for the Champions League first qualifying round.
Yuriy Vernydub's side have now played six times in this season's competition, beating Teuta Durres 5-0 on aggregate before recording a 4-1 aggregate success over Alashkert in the second qualifying round.
Sheriff played out a 1-1 draw with Red Star Belgrade in the first leg of their third qualifying round contest before recording a 1-0 victory in the reverse match to advance to the playoffs.
The Yellow-Blacks have never managed to advance to the group stage of the Champions League, but they did compete in the group stage of the 2017-18 Europa League, finishing third in their section.
Sheriff have not actually been in action since their last Champions League match, but they have started their domestic season, picking up six points from three matches to occupy fifth spot in the table.
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Dinamo, meanwhile, qualified for the first qualifying round of the Champions League by winning the Croatian league last season, so they have also had to play six times in this season's competition to make the playoffs.
The Croatian giants overcame Valur in the first qualifying round before beating Omonia in the second qualifying round, which saw them paired with Legia Warsaw; the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg on August 4, but Dinamo recorded a 1-0 victory in the away leg to triumph 2-1 on aggregate.
Damir Krznar's side reached the quarter-finals of last season's Europa League before losing to eventual winners Villarreal, while they played in the group stage of the 2019-20 Champions League, finishing fourth in a group that involved Atalanta BC, Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Dinamo are, by far, the more experienced of these two teams when it comes to top-level European action, and it would be some story if they did not manage to negotiate their way through the contest.
The Blues, who beat HNK Gorica 1-0 on Friday, are already four matches into their new domestic season, and a total of seven points from four games has left them in fifth position.
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Team News
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As mentioned, Sheriff have not been in action since the second leg of their clash with Red Star Belgrade, meaning that there are no fresh injury concerns for the home side.
It would not be a surprise to see Vernydub send the same starting XI onto the field, with a 4-2-3-1 formation likely to include Henrique Luvannor as the centre-forward.
Adama Traore and Frank Castaneda are certain starters in the wide areas for the Moldovan outfit, while Edmund Addo should retain his spot in the middle of the park alongside Sebastien Thill.
Dinamo, meanwhile, have no fresh injury concerns, but they were in league action against Gorica on Friday and have therefore had much less time to prepare for this contest.
There are not expected to be too many surprises in the away side's XI, with Mislav Orsic joining Bruno Petkovic and Luka Ivanusec in the final third of the field.
The only slight doubt from the first leg is central defender Rasmus Lauritsen, meaning that there could be a spot in the middle of the back four for Dino Peric.
Sheriff Tiraspol possible starting lineup:
Athanasiadis; Cristiano, Arboleda, Dulanto, Julien; Addo, Thill; Traore, Kolovos, Castaneda; Luvannor
Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Franjic; Misic, Majer, Jakic; Ivanusec, Petkovic, Orsic
We say: Sheriff Tiraspol 1-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Sheriff are more than capable of causing a shock in this playoff tie, and we are expecting a tight match on Tuesday night. Dinamo have a lot of quality in the forward areas, though, and we are finding it difficult to predict anything other than an away victory in this contest.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sheriff Tiraspol win with a probability of 41.43%. A win for Dinamo Zagreb had a probability of 35.63% and a draw had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheriff Tiraspol win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.31%) and 2-0 (5.43%). The likeliest Dinamo Zagreb win was 1-2 (7.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sheriff Tiraspol would win this match.
