Sheriff Tiraspol take a 5-1 lead into the second leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie with BATE Borisov.
Sheriff had no trouble picking up the first-leg win, as three different players scored.
David Akpan Ankeye scored twice and Momo Yansane added two more. Cedric Badolo got on the scoresheet as well to help the Moldovan Super League team to the win.
BATE scored a goal through Sidi Bane but Sheriff had found the back of the net three times before the goal was scored.
The winner of Thursday’s match will face off with a team eliminated from the Champions League third qualifying round. The fight for a place in the Europa League group stage is getting more difficult.
BATE manager Kirill Alshevskiy uses a defensive 4-3-3 formation. The formation allows BATE to use double pivots to protect the back four.
It didn’t work in the first leg, and Alshevskiy may need to adjust his tactics for the second leg to overcome Sheriff.
Borisov started their season in the Champions League qualifying rounds, defeating Partizani.
A second qualifying round loss to Aris Limassol 11-5 on aggregate sent BATE into the Europa League third qualifying round.
BATE Borisov have not played in the Europa League group stage since 2018-19.
Attacking midfielder Valeriy Gromyko leads BATE in goals with six. Bane, who scored in the first leg, has three goals. Alshevskiy has no fresh injury issues.
Sheriff Tiraspol manager Roberto Bordin took charge of the first team in January.
Expectations are high at big-spending Sheriff after they reached the Champions League group stage a few seasons ago.
Last season, Sheriff reached the Europa League group stage before playing in the Conference League round of 16.
Bordin is aiming to get the Moldovan Super League team back to the Europa League group stage at the very least.
Yansane and Ankeye go into the match in good form after they scored two goals each in the first leg.
Bordin will be without captain Amine Talal due to a suspension for the second leg. Defensive midfielder Moussa Kyabou is a doubt due to an injury.
Sheriff Tiraspol had an easy time in the first leg and should ease to a second-leg victory on Thursday. The Moldovan team should replicate their first-leg performance with a win. Sheriff should post a 3-1 victory to move onto the Europa League playoff round.