Preview: Wales vs. Armenia - prediction, team news, lineups

The Cardiff City Stadium is the venue for Wales's Euro 2024 qualification clash with Armenia on Friday evening.

Rob Page's side are unbeaten after two games in qualifying, while their visitors seek to get points on board after losing their opening fixture.

Match preview

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Wales have performed admirably in Euro 2024 qualifying to bounce back from their underwhelming World Cup outing in Qatar.

The Dragons failed to win at the global showpiece but have secured four points from an available six against Croatia and Latvia.

A late Nathan Broadhead goal pegged back Zlatko Dalic's men in Split, securing a point at the death when defeat seemed likely following Andrej Kramaric's 28th-minute strike.

Wales followed that up with a 1-0 triumph over Latvia in round two of fixtures, putting them top of Group D, albeit level with Croatia on four points.

The home side are unbeaten on their turf in Euros qualifying since a 2-0 defeat by England in 2011 — winning nine of 12 games — possibly giving Page's troops the edge on Friday.

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Visiting Cardiff are Armenia, who face the possibility of falling seven points adrift of table-topping Wales if they lose the clash, even if they have played a fewer game.

Losing to Turkey in March continued a streak of defeats in Euros qualifying for Oleksandr Petrakov's side, who have been beaten in four consecutive games.

That run included a 9-1 thrashing by current European champions Italy in November 2019 in their final game of the group.

While Havakakan have an outstanding game, they are unlikely to pull up trees in Group D, but a positive result in Cardiff gives some optimism.

However, without participation at the finals post-independence in 1991, ending in the top two spots seems a long shot for Petrakov's team.

Team News

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Page's squad include many of whom have featured in both qualifying games, and the Wales boss could lean on a similar line-up, with Aaron Ramsey expected to captain the home side.

Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams — one of six players to have completed both games — is expected to feature for the Dragons.

Kieffer Moore was the match-winner against Latvia, and the striker should play from the off in Cardiff.

Petrakov's team are without the Champions League-beaten finalist Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who announced his international retirement in March 2022, leaving Havakakan without their previously talismanic midfielder for the ongoing qualifiers.

Varazdat Haroyan is expected to lead out the away side, while Norberto Briasco should keep his place at centre-forward.

Wales possible starting lineup:
Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Williams; Wilson, Morrell, Ampadu, James; Ramsey; Moore

Armenia possible starting lineup:
Beglaryan; Hovhannisyan, Harutyunyan, Haroyan, Voskanyan, Tiknizyan; Barseghyan, Iwu, Spertsyan, Zelarayan; Briasco

We say: Wales 1-0 Armenia

Wales are expected to secure a hard-fought win over Armenia to hold on to first place in their group, even if a high-scoring encounter is unlikely, going by previous home results in Euro qualifying.


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