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VMFD "Žalgiris" head coach Damiras Petravičius wants to see his team dominate in the first Vilnius football derby of this season.
On Saturday, two Lithuanian capital football teams will face off for the first time in official matches - Vilnius "REO" and Vilnius City Football Club "Žalgiris". The return of the Vilnius derby to the championship schedule will be one of the most interesting matches of the "General Financing A League" VIII round.
In the last round, neither the players of Žalgiris nor the "REO" footballers managed to secure victories. "Žalgiris" had to settle for a 2-2 draw after a tough battle with the local team "Šiauliai". The loss of two points temporarily pushed Žalgiris out of the first place in the league table. "REO" stumbled 2-1 against Pakruojis "Kruoja" in Panevėžys. This was the fourth defeat for the team in seven matches. Only in the VI round did a home victory against Šiauliai "Šiauliai" allow the A League debutants to climb from the bottom of the league table. Before the start of the VIII round, "REO" occupies the 8th place (5 points), and VMFD "Žalgiris" ranks 3rd (16 points).
VMFD "Žalgiris" head coach expects a successful derby. "Interesting things happen during derbies, but I hope all the events in the Vilnius derby will be in our favor. Our team didn't perform well against "Šiauliai", so we need to regain our lost positions tomorrow. We will play in a familiar environment, so we shouldn't feel like an away team.
Of course, we have been playing on the field for some time now and have already adapted a bit from the closed arena, but this should not be a big problem," says Damiras Petravičius. - "REO" team is gradually finding their game. At home, they confidently defeated "Šiauliai" 3:1, and lost to "Kruoja" away by a minimal margin of 2:1. On Saturday, we need to dictate our own rules to the "REO" players and not allow them to play their game."
Former head coach of the Lithuanian national team Algimantas Liubinskas, who will watch the duel between "Reo" and "Žalgiris" teams at "Sportima" arena, believes that Žalgiris should win the Vilnius derby.
"Žalgiris" should win, but in derbies there is always a principled fight. It can sometimes be hard to predict. The fact that the match will take place at "Sportima" arena somewhat evens out the chances of the teams," says the football specialist. - "Žalgiris" wants to take the first place in the championship, so they cannot afford to share points."
