Omonia and Pafos FC will make history on Thursday night in the Conference League, when they take to the field for the first ever all-Cypriot tie in a UEFA competition.
All three Cypriot clubs made it through to the playoffs, with APOEL Nicosia also advancing, in what has been the best season for football in the country since APOEL reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012.
Match preview
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These two clubs may have sighed at the idea of facing each other yet again, given they have met a staggering 11 times in the last two years, with another two head-to-heads to come over the next week.
Omonia will possibly be the happier of the two considering they have an excellent recent record against Pafos, which includes home and away wins in both the Championship Group of the Cypriot First Division and in their Cypriot Cup semi-final in 2023.
Despite sitting six points clear at the top of the league, Pafos lost the most recent meeting back in December, and have won just two of those 11 meetings.
Omonia sit 10 points adrift of the leaders, but Giannis Anastasiou's side are comfortable in third and in a good position to qualify for Europe again, meaning plenty of focus can go into this tie.
Since a matchday six goalless draw with Borac Banja Luka, Omonia have won eight in 10, with caretaker Anastasiou doing a stellar job in a role that he is most likely going to keep until the end of the season.
Despite conceding their first goals in almost 10 hours of action at the weekend against phoenix club Omonia 29 is Maiou, the original Omonia still came out 3-2 victors to keep themselves just about alive in the hunt for the title.
Ahead of their 180th match in Europe, this will be the first Omonia have played in the knockout stages, but this achievement has been coming, after reaching the group stages of UEFA competitions in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Despite scoring just seven goals on the way to collecting seven points, that was enough to sneak through in one of the final playoff places, with home wins over Rapid Vienna and Vikingur Reykjavik proving crucial.
All three away games saw Omonia fail to score, though, which could be a concern heading into the second leg next week, even if the trip is relatively short compared to the ones they took in the league phase.
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For a club who are just 10 years old and playing their first season in Europe, Pafos' achievements have to be commended, even if they have been boosted by some generous investment.
The Cypriot Cup winners have endured a long, unlikely run to this stage, starting off in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, where they were beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Elfsborg.
However, the Conference League qualifiers proved to be a great success, knocking out Zalgiris and experienced European duo CFR Cluj and CSKA Sofia 1948 to reach the league phase, where they enjoyed more brilliant results.
Three wins in the league phase, including their first ever on the road in Europe away to Petrocub, saw them finish up in 12th, securing a seeded spot in these playoffs.
Form in 2025 stands Juan Carlos Carcedo's men in good stead ahead of this clash too, as Pafos have won eight of their nine games since the turn of the year, including in tricky Cypriot Cup ties against Aris Limassol and APOEL, already making them well versed in facing fellow compatriots in cup competitions.
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Team News
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Omonia will be able to call upon Mateo Maric in Europe again after the Bosnian was suspended for the matchday six trip to his homeland to face Borac.
Mikael Ingebrigtsen has arrived from Odd and Stefan Simic is in from Karmiotissa and could both make their debuts after being unused substitutes at the weekend.
The man to watch for the hosts will be Cape Verde attacker Willy Semedo, whose five goals in Europe this season is more than he has managed in 20 domestic outings, and he should partner veteran Stevan Jovetic, who will undoubtedly be the most high-profile player to take to the field here.
Pafos will hope Vlad Dragomir can repeat his past feats against Omonia, opponents he has scored against in his last two meetings, and he enters the fixture following a goal at the weekend against Omonia Aradippou.
Pafos have also been busy in the market, making a big statement with the signings of former Premier League wingers Mislav Orsic and Ken Sema, while Zvonimir Sarlija has also arrived from Hajduk Split.
Striker Anderson Silva is in red-hot form at present, having scored six goals in just five starts across 2025, taking his tally to 14 for the season across all competitions.
Omonia possible starting lineup:
Fabiano; Dionkou, Coulibaly, Panagiotou, Khammas; Charalampous, Maric; Loizou, Stepinski, Semedo; Jovetic
Pafos FC possible starting lineup:
Ivusic; Joao Correia, Luckassen, Boukamir, Silva; Pepe, Dragomir, Tanlongo; Bruno, Anderson Silva, Orsic
We say: Omonia 1-1 Pafos FC
This match could go under the radar to many, but it should be a very intriguing clash against two in-form sides from the same nation, who are building something of a rivalry given their regular meetings.
Pafos have performed better both domestically and in Europe, but Omonia have home advantage, as well as much more experience in European competition, making it devilishly difficult to call ahead of the first leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
