Armenia vs Turkey Turkey begins their Euro 2024 journey with a trip to Yerevan to face Armenia on Saturday. The unrest between Armenia and Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan makes this clash extremely politically charged.
After a sensational start to the previous qualifying campaign, Armenia enters this section with much less hope after a sharp drop in form.
A nine-game unbeaten run between 2020 and 2021 included a five-game winning streak in which Armenia won their first three qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Armenia vs Turkey Kick OFF Time
Event details:
NAME: Armenia – Turkey
DATE: 25 Mar 2023
TIME: 17:00 UTC
VENUE: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia
Armenia vs Turkey Georgia, Iceland and Romania were among the countries they beat to finish top of the group with Germany on 10 points from four qualifying games for Qatar.
However, things have fallen apart since then as the departure of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the national team didn’t help matters as Armenia picked up just two points from their remaining six qualifiers, finishing in first place.
Two wins in their last 19 games also saw them relegated from League B of the UEFA Nations League last year after conceding 17 goals in their last five games.
Losing 5-0 at home to Ukraine and North Macedonia in the last 12 months has also dented confidence further, leaving little hope for the Armenians to progress in this group.
In addition, in the last three and a half years, they have conceded nine goals twice – Italy and Norway.
This match will be the first game played by the Turkish national team since the devastating earthquake that hit the country last month, so coach Stefan Kunz hopes his team will help bring the nation together at such a difficult time.
Armenia vs Turkey Playing XI
Armenia possible starting lineup: Buchnev; Hovhannisyan, Haroyan, Voskanyan, Calisir; Barseghyan, Spertsyan, Bayramyan, Shaghoyan; Zelarayan, Adamyan
Turkey possible starting lineup: Cakir; Zeki Celik, Soyuncu, Demiral, Elmali; Calhanoglu, Ozcan, Kokcu; Under, Unal, Akturktoglu
Armenia vs Turkey Armenia’s star quality is expressed in two attacking outings of Argentinian origin, Lucas Zelarayan and Norberto Briasco.
Briasco has rarely been used since making his debut five years ago and will still have to battle with Sargis Adamian for a starting spot up front.
Grant-Leon Ranos received his first call-up after scoring 16 goals for Bayern Munich II this season.
FC Astana duo Kamo Hovhannesyan and Varazdat Haroyan are two of their most experienced players and both should start on the right flank of the Armenian defense.
Although he never shone in Turkey, it will be difficult for Kunz to overlook Getafe’s Enes Unal as a starting striker.
The 25-year-old scored six goals in his last four La Liga appearances before the international break and with Brighton and Hove Albion’s Deniz Undav yet to be called up, he is yet to decide whether to represent Turkey or Germany. Unal should start.
There is a class in the away midfield with Hakan Calhanoglu, Orkun Kokcu, and Kerem Aktürkoglu in top form across Europe.
The center-backs are the biggest concern, with Caglar Soyuncu and Meric Demiral barely featuring this season and Ozan Kabak struggling for lowly Hoffenheim.
Armenia vs Turkey Last Match Result
Armenia form (all competitions): L L L L D L
Turkey form (all competitions):W W D L W W
Armenia vs Turkey With the two nations facing each other in Split on the same night, Turkey should get off to a flying start with one or possibly both sides ensuring they drop points on the opening night.
Turkey was chasing promotion to the Nations League after notably finishing in League C, but they completely dropped the ball, playing Luxembourg at home and losing in the Faroe Islands after the promotion was secured.
These are the only two defeats in Turkey’s last eight games since they lost to Portugal in the World Cup play-offs and then won their remaining six games.
The form has been inconsistent after being the worst team at Euro 2020, but the Crescent Stars are still unlucky not to qualify for Qatar after losing just once in their group.
In a fiendishly tight group, they lost first place to the Netherlands, but almost qualified for the playoffs ahead of Norway and Montenegro.
The two sides met in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers where Turkey won both home and away legs 2-0.
