Omonia and Sheriff Tiraspol will begin their Europa League campaign this week when they square off at GSP Stadium. Match day schedules for September 8 at 22:00 EAT.
The hosts have only played two fixtures in the Cypriot First Division, which have resulted in mixed results with one victory and draw. Omonia showcased their strength during their two Europa League playoff matches against Gent where they won both matches by two goals to nil. Coming into this game, Omonia lost only one of their last six matches across all competitions.
Omonia Nicosia prepares for this fixture confident following 3-2 First Division victory to beat AEK Larnaca in their previous match. Roman Bezus (35′), Bruno Souza (49′) and Fotios Papoulis (85′) scored for Omonia while Ádám Gyurcsó (56′) and Victor Olatunji (64′) scored for AEK Larnaca.
Sheriff Tiraspol meanwhile was the surprise package of the Champions League last season, and even though they did not qualify from the group, they showcased their qualities by defeating eventual winners Real Madrid. Tiraspol just managed to reach this stage though after two goalless draws against Pyunik in their playoff matches, with penalties being how they got this far. Coming into this game, they won only one of their last six matches.
Sheriff Tiraspol held each other to 0-0 Europa League stalemate with Pyunik in tgheir most recent game. Sheriff Tiraspol won the match 3-2 after penalties shoot out.
Omonia vs. Sheriff Tiraspol head to head
Thursday’s fixture will be the first head to head encounter between Omonia and Sheriff Tiraspol.
Here are their last five encounters:
Home
- Omonia Nicosia 3-2 Larnaca
- Akritas 1-0 Omonia Nicosia
- Omonia Nicosia 2-0 Gent
- Gent 0-2 Omonia Nicosia
- Apollon Limassol 2-0 Omonia Nicosia
Away
- Dacia 0-2 Tiraspol
- Tiraspol 1-1 Petrocub Hincesti
- Tiraspol 3-2 Pyunik Yerevan
- FC Balti 0-3 Tiraspol
- Pyunik Yerevan 0-0 Tiraspol
Omonia team news
Andronikos Kakoullis is the only injury confirmed for boss Neil Lennon’s squad ahead of this game.
Sheriff Tiraspol team news
Boss Stjepan Tomas will take to the pitch with a fully fit squad.
Prediction and odds
While this can be a very close game since both teams are pretty similar in quality, Omonia Nicosia showed so far to reach this stage more than what we saw from Sheriff.
- Omonia Win
- Draw
- Goals under 2.5
