Riga FC vs Derry City Preview

Riga FC will welcome Derry City to the Skonto Stadions this Thursday for the second leg of their Europa Conference League group stage qualifiers.

The hosts come into this tie with a two-goal advantage after a determined showing in their first leg at the Brandywell Stadium in Derry.

The Latvian club opened the scoring in the 41st minute through Gabriel Ramos before Oleksandr Filippov doubled the lead and sealed the win for the visitors who also had a man advantage after Matthew Smith was sent off.

But Riga followed that first-leg win with a 2-0 loss to Valmiera, taking their record to just one win in their last four games. That loss also made it back-to-back losses for the hosts who have also failed to score in both games.

However, given that they have won seven of their last ten home games while keeping seven clean sheets, they will be confident of getting the win that will take them to the next stage.

Meanwhile, Derry have won their last three away games and will fancy their chances of making it four wins in four.

Unlike their hosts, the visitors have had enough rest since playing in the first leg and so should come into this fixture as the fresher of the two teams. But their chances of winning this game are slim considering that they have to overturn a two-goal deficit.

Given their defencive record which has seen them keep just one clean sheet in their last ten games, it’s difficult to fancy them to win this game.