AEK Larnaca – Dyn. Kyiv : Preview & Prediction
Extending their UEFA Europa League (UEL) campaign beyond Christmas is out of reach for AEK Larnaca, but the Cypriots are still within touching distance of contesting a knockout stage of European soccer for the first time in their history. That’s because the Yellow-Greens know that a draw in their penultimate Group B match will be enough to secure a place in the preliminary knockout round of the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL).
José Luis Oltra’s side are in third place in the group, three points ahead of their opponents, Dynamo Kiev, whom they beat 1-0 in Poland in the previous meeting between the two clubs last month. That should give them a boost after a patchy run that has seen them record just five wins in their last 12 games (E1, P6), culminating in a 1-0 away defeat to APOEL on Saturday, while they have also won just one of their last eight home matches in a group stage in European soccer (E2, P5).
For Dynamo Kiev it is win or bust if they are to contest the UECL, but even a win might not be enough to qualify for Europe’s third tournament, given that a matchday six clash against Rennes still awaits them. The Blue and Whites, two-time winners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, are bottom of the group after four defeats in a row and are on an 11-game winless streak in European away matches (E3, P8).
The pressure is also on coach Mircea Lucescu, whose team has taken just ten points from its first seven domestic games and has won just three of its last 13 matches in all competitions (E1, P9). A 1-1 draw against Vorskia last Sunday only added to that pressure, and the coach described his players after that game as “stiff” and admitted that they “made a lot of mistakes and missed a lot of goals.”
Players to watch: Ádám Gyurcsó, who scored Larnaca’s winning goal in the previous match between these teams, has three goals and two assists in eight European games this season (G4, E2, P2). Meanwhile, Vitaliy Buyalskyi has finished with the loss in just two of his scoring appearances for Dynamo Kyiv since 2016 (G36, E6).
Key stat: The team that has scored first has won Larnaca’s last 11 games.
AEK Larnaca – Dyn. Kyiv : Betting Tips
AEK Larnaca – Win Odds: 3.25
