Villarreal will travel to Croatia to take on Hajduk Split on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie.
The Yellow Submarine make the trip with a two-goal aggregate lead, having come out of an eventful contest in Spain with a 4-2 win on the night.
Match preview
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After finishing second in their domestic top flight and winning the Croatian Cup last season, Hadjuk Split earned a place in the third qualifying round for the upcoming Europa Conference League, after their new term started with a penalty shooutout defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian Super Cup.
They were drawn against Vitoria de Guimaraes and got on the front foot in the two-legged tie with a 3-1 home victory, thanks to goals from Emir Sahiti, Dario Melnjak and Filip Krovinovic, before narrowly seeing out an aggregate win despite suffering a 1-0 away defeat.
Following a thrashing at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb, Valdas Dambrauskas's side travelled to Spain for the first leg of their contest with Villarreal last week, and they made a positive start as Stipe Biuk opened the scoring in the second minute, only for the hosts to turn the game on its head and go 4-1 up by half time.
Marco Fossati was, at least, able to salvage some hope for his side with an 85th-minute penalty, and, now on the back of a league triumph over Lokomotiva thanks to goals from Chidozie Awaziem and Lukas Grgic, they will hope to overturn the deficit on home turf and defy the odds to reach the group stage.
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Dambrauskas's side face a particularly tough test, though, as Villarreal arrive on the back of a strong start to the season and with a desperate desire for continental football.
Having finished seventh in La Liga last term, Unai Emery's side had to settle for a place in qualifying for Europe's third competition, despite going on an impressive run in last year's Champions League as they beat Juventus and Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals, only to be dumped out by Liverpool.
After a 3-0 beating of Real Valladolid in their La Liga curtain-raiser, the Yellow Submarine hosted Hajduk Split in the first leg of their first continental tie of the season, and they quickly came from behind to move into the ascendancy thanks to a Jose Luis Morales brace, a Gerard Moreno finish and an own goal from Marko Livaja.
On their return to league action at the weekend, Emery's men faced the tough test of a trip to Atletico Madrid, but they maintained a perfect record with an impressive 2-0 win, thanks to goals from Yeremi Pino and Moreno in the final 30 minutes.
Now with their attention back on the Conference League, with the chance of going into the group stage as one of the favourites for the trophy, Villarreal will aim to see out their aggregate win on Thursday with a two-goal advantage.
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Team News
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In their desperate search for goals on Thursday, Hajduk Split could call on another striker, with veteran Nikola Kalinic expected to come in and join Marko Livaja up front.
Marco Fossati will also be vying to feature from the outset in midfield, although Filip Krovinovic and Lukas Grgic continue to play crucial roles in the centre.
Unai Emery made some rotations to his Villarreal squad for last week's first leg, and we should see similar changes in Croatia, with veteran Pepe Reina again set to play between the sticks while Aissa Mandi and Manu Morlanes will be given further chances in defence and midfield respectively.
Summer signing Jose Luis Morales netted a brace in that game and should start again, while star man Gerard Moreno may be rested for the second leg, with fellow key attacker Arnaut Danjuma sidelined with an injury.
Morlanes should partner Francis Coquelin in the engine room, with the likes of Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Baena, Yeremi Pino and Nicolas Jackson all in contention to feature on the wings.
Hajduk Split possible starting lineup:
L. Kalinic; Mikanovic, Awaziem, Borevkovic, Melnjak; Grgic; Sahiti, Krovinovic, Biuk; Livaja, N. Kalinic
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reina; De La Fuente, Mandi, Cuenca, Pedraza; Chukwueze, Morlanes, Coquelin, Baena; Morales, Jackson
We say: Hajduk Split 1-3 Villarreal (Villarreal win 7-3 on aggregate)
Hajduk Split will certainly come out in an attacking manner with nothing to lose, but we see Villarreal having the quality to not only fend off the hosts' attempts, but also punish their potentially compromised defensive structure.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
