LISBON, Portugal — Ventspils travel to Portugal on Thursday to take on Sporting Lisbon for the second time in a fortnight in the UEFA Europa League.

In their last match-up in Riga, Ventspils were desperately unlucky to not come away with at least one point with Sporting scoring the winning goal late in the piece.

Yet to claim an outright victory in the Europa League, Ventspils know that they can match it with the high-flying Sporting who can guarantee their progress to the next round with an outright victory over the Latvians.

Ventspils will be hoping for a much better showing from goal-keeper Aleksandrs Kolenko who by his own admission, had a less than satisfactory performance last time the two teams met.

They will also be looking to ask more questions of the Sporting defense with too many crosses into the box going astray in their last  game.