Latvian and Irish football will take a break this midweek to focus on European qualification with Derry City playing hosts to Riga FC in the first leg of the Europa Conference League qualifying round with both clubs sitting third in their respective leagues ahead of this one.
Both clubs have had a relatively decent run on the domestic front to this point, and as both sides sit third after nearly the same amount of games, in truth, barely anything is separating both Derry and Riga in this first leg.
Bring on Thursday night 👊 pic.twitter.com/YF5s4ow4fr— Derry City FC (@derrycityfc) July 5, 2022
Bring on Thursday night 👊 pic.twitter.com/YF5s4ow4fr
Derry have played two more games than their opposition here, with them coming into this game with 11 wins from their 22 fixtures in the League of Ireland Premier Division.
What's more, they have lost only four times which is the same as the league leaders, Shamrock Rovers.
The Irish side have also netted an impressive 38 times in the league to this point, which is the most of any side in the top flight of Ireland all season long.
The club are also on a five-game unbeaten run after losing to Sligo Rovers, Shamrock, and Dundalk consecutively back in May. This has involved two draws, while also beating Cliftonville, UCD and most recently, Bohemians.
As for Riga, they too sit third in their league, and while Derry have acquired 40 points from 22 games, the Latvian side have 41 points from 20 fixtures so far, having lost five, drawn two and won 13.
They do also boast one of the league’s best defences, with them letting in 12 goals from the 20 games, as they've also netted 32 times to this point.
Riga are, however, in much weaker form than Derry heading into this one in Ireland, with Sandro Perković's men having not won in their past two games since beating Auda 1-0 on home soil.
They recently drew with Liepaja last time out, after a 2-0 defeat to Valmieras at home, which likely goes down as their worst result in the league to this point.
Nevertheless, they remain in with a shout at winning the title if they return to form, and on the road at the very least, they have been sensational.
There is not that much separating them on the domestic front at all so far in the league, but Riga seem to have the edge. Forebet predicts a win for the away side here and for the game to see under 2.5 goals, as Riga take the upper hand in this first leg of Europa Conference League qualification.