Ferencvaros square off against Noah FC in the second leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie on Wednesday night holding a narrow lead from the first leg.
Despite going behind in Armenia, the Hungarian giants rallied either side of half time as Callum O'Dowda and Barnabas Varga scored in the 45th and 49th minutes respectively.
Although Robbie Keane will be dealing with a suspension for the return fixture, the Irishman will be satisfied with his team's position in the tie ahead of the game at the Groupama Arena.
How the bookies see it: Ferencvaros to cruise through?
Unsurprisingly, Ferencvaros are the heavy favourites with the bookmakers to win this contest, Boylesports pricing them as low as 4/11.
The draw – which would be good enough for Ferencvaros on the night – is 11/4, while Noah are priced all the way out at 11/2.
Punters could plausibly see value in the draw on the back of Ferencvaros being held to a 1-1 draw at MTK Budapest at the weekend.
Head to head: Inaugural competitive meeting
With Noah FC having only being participating in European competition since 2020-21, it comes as no surprise that this is the first-ever competitive encounter between these two teams.
This will represent just the second time that Ferencvaros have faced Armenian opposition in European competition, the first time coming in the 2011-12 Europa League first qualifying round when they eased past Ulisses 5-0 on aggregate.
Players to watch: Varga to be the difference?
O'Dowda – an Irish compatriot of Keane – marked his competitive debut with a goal in the first leg, and the former Cardiff City player can be considered to be an outside bet to back up that strike.
Hungary international Varga will be more fancied to find the back of the net, however, having netted 51 goals from 85 games since his arrival at the club in 2023.
Goncalo Gregorio is the man to watch from a Noah FC perspective. Although he has failed to net in three Champions League qualifying ties this month, the 30-year-old scored on 27 occasions in all competitions during 2024-25.
However, it is perhaps worth noting that the six goals that he netted in the Conference League – all in the qualifying rounds – came in home fixtures.
Predicted lineups: Ferencvaros forced into one change
As a result of Ibrahim Cisse being sent off during the closing stages of the first leg, Keane must make at least one alteration to his Ferencvaros XI.
Keane must decide whether to bring Gabor Szalai into the team as a straight replacement in the back three, or introduce a more offensive-minded player into the team instead.
Noah will have had over a week to prepare for this game and could plausibly line up the same as the first leg.
Marin Jakolis and Hovhannes Hambardzumyan were introduced early in the second half in that fixture and are pushing for opportunities.
Ferencvaros: Dibusz; Makreckis, Gartenmann, Szalai, Otvos, O'Dowda; Levi, Toth, Keita, Joseph; Varga
Noah FC: Cancarevic; Boakye, Silva, Muradyan, Sualehe; Sangare, Eteki; Ferreira, Omar, Grgic; Gregorio
Anything else catch the eye?
Despite the disappointment of failing to win at MTK Budapest on the opening weekend of the Hungarian top flight, Ferencvaros are now five games unbeaten when also taking into account pre-season friendlies.
During those games, just three goals have been conceded and never more than one in a single match.
Meanwhile, the only defeat that Noah FC have posted across the same amount of games was the defeat in the first leg.
In the Champions League first qualifying round, they prevailed by a 3-2 aggregate scoreline against Montenegrin side FK Buducnost Podgorica.
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