Astana bring a big two-goal advantage to the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League tie with Aris.
Astana made a massive step towards the third qualifying round by picking up a 2-0 victory over Aris seven days ago in Kazakhstan.
Their best player Marin Tomasov made all the difference by completing a brace right before center-back Luka Simunovic got sent off.
The head coach Andrei Tikhonov will thus not be able to count on his starting center-back for the reverse fixture.
It will be interesting to see if such an absence could boost Aris’ chances. The Greeks will face hard times trying to score at least two goals here, having registered no more than two shots on target in the first game on Kazakh’s soil.
Aris have only returned to European competitions after almost a decade-long break two years ago when they were stopped in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League by Molde (3-4 on aggregate).
They were stopped right at the first obstacle in the same competition last season, falling 1-2 at home to Ukrainian Kolos Kovalivka.
If we count pre-season friendlies, Aris lost three of the last four matches, failing to keep a clean sheet in any of them.
This will be the music to the ears of Marin Tomasov who could have even more room to deliver in the final third here in the reverse fixture.
Aris vs Astana Head to Head:
The two outfits are about to lock horns only for the second time this Thursday.
Their first game saw Astana’s 2-0 victory seven days ago in Kazakhstan’s capital.





译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

阿斯塔纳在与阿里斯的欧联第二回合比赛中取得了两球的优势。
阿斯塔纳7天前在哈萨克斯坦以2-0战胜阿里斯，向资格赛第三轮迈出了巨大的一步。
他们最好的球员马林·托马索夫在中后卫卢卡·希穆诺维奇被罚下之前完成了一个支撑。
因此，主教练安德烈·吉洪诺夫(Andrei Tikhonov)将无法指望他的首发中后卫在比赛中发挥。
看看这样的缺阵是否会增加阿里斯的机会将是一件有趣的事情。在哈萨克的第一场比赛中，希腊人射正的次数不超过两次。
两年前，阿里斯队在欧冠资格赛第三轮被莫尔德队(3胜4负)击败，时隔近十年才重返欧冠赛场。
他们在上个赛季同样的比赛中，在第一个障碍就被阻止了，在主场1-2输给了乌克兰人科洛斯·科瓦利夫卡。
如果我们算上季前赛的友谊赛，阿里斯在过去的四场比赛中输掉了三场，没有一场保持不失球。
这将是马林·托马索夫的音乐，他可以在倒数第三名有更多的空间。
阿里斯vs阿斯塔纳:
这两家公司将在本周四第二次交锋。
他们的第一场比赛是7天前在哈萨克斯坦首都阿斯塔纳2-0获胜。