Slovan Bratislava will welcome Sturm Graz to Slovakia on Thursday for the second leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round playoff tie.
The visitors travel with a 4-1 lead to defend, having gained an advantage with a dominant display in Austria last week.
Match preview
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Slovan Bratislava return to action on Thursday aiming to overturn a large deficit in their two-legged playoff tie with a Europa Conference League round-of-16 place on the line, having suffered a heavy away defeat in the first leg last weekend.
While they were unable to pip Lille to top spot in their group in Europe's tertiary competition, their tally of 10 points was enough to seal second place and a knockout spot as a result, having managed a pair of victories over KI Klaksvik and a 1-0 triumph away at NK Olimpija Ljubljana.
That set up a playoff tie with Sturm Graz, and the Belasi were unable to avoid a loss in the first leg in Austria last Thursday, despite drawing level through Gerson Rodrigues inside the opening 10 minutes, as the hosts went back ahead before the break and established a three-goal lead in the second half.
Vladimir Weiss's side were able to rebound from that setback at the weekend, bouncing back to winning ways by beating Zlate Moravce 4-1 on home turf on Sunday to move 12 points clear at the summit of the Slovak Super Liga thanks to goals from Juraj Kucka and Nino Marcelli and a Rodrigues brace.
Now turning their focus back to their European pursuits, with any Europa Conference League final-16 hopes looking bleak, Slovan Bratislava will set out to overturn the three-goal deficit on home turf on Thursday and progress against the odds.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, travel to Slovakia aiming to complete the job after gaining the edge in the tie on home turf last Thursday.
Sturm Graz entered the Europa Conference League playoff after dropping out of their Europa League group in third place, only pipping Rakow Czestochowa to that spot on goal difference having collected four points from their six matches.
Slovan Bratislava then stood between Die Schwoazn and the round of 16 in the continent's tertiary competition, and they laid a strong claim to progress in their home leg last week, dishing out a 4-1 beating at the Liebenauer Stadium as Mika Biereth opened the scoring, Jon Gorenc Stankovic restored the lead around the half-hour mark and Otar Kiteishvili and Amady Camara stretched the gap in the second half.
Christian Ilzer's side then most recently met Rapid Vienna on the domestic front on Sunday and maintained a two-point gap up to Austrian Bundesliga leaders Red Bull Salzburg in a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw despite going ahead early on through Dimitri Lavalee, as Christoph Lang pegged them back late in the first half.
Now travelling to Slovakia with a healthy lead to defend, albeit while not over the line yet, Sturm Graz will bid to stay in control on Thursday and see out a comfortable aggregate win to advance to the final 16.
Team News
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The Slovan Bratislava boss will be unable to call on namesake Vladimir Weiss on Thursday, as he will serve a suspension after being sent off in the first leg.
Gerson Rodrigues will again spearhead their attack, having scored in both of his first two appearances for the club after arriving on loan from Dynamo Kiev, while David Strelec will continue to play a key role out wide, having notched up 10 goals so far this term, following the departure of top scorer Aleksandar Cavric.
Veterans Juraj Kucka and Jaba Kankava are bound to keep their places in the engine room, while Kenan Bajric and Kevin Wimmer will continue their partnership at the heart of a back four.
Sturm Graz may be unchanged from their victorious home leg last week, although Amady Camara will push to come into the attack from the start after his goal off the bench in that 4-1 win.
Instead, Arsenal loanee Mika Biereth could again lead the line having scored twice in his four games for the club thus far, with support from Otar Kiteishvili and Manprit Sarkaria, and Ilzer is not short of options with William Boving and Szymon Wlodarczyk also fighting for spots.
Elsewere, Tomi Horvat and Jon Gorenc Stankovic are mainstays in the engine room, while David Affengruber, Gregory Wuthrich and Dimitri Lavalee may line up in a back three again.
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Trnovsky; Pauschek, Bajric, Wimmer, Zmrhal; Kankava, Savvidis, Kucka; Barseghyan, Rodrigues, Strelec
Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:
Jaros; Affengruber, Wuthrich, Lavalee; Gazibegovic, Stankovic, Horvat, Prass; Boving, Biereth, Kiteishvili
We say: Slovan Bratislava 2-3 Sturm Graz (Sturm Graz win 7-3 on aggregate)
Slovan Bratislava will certainly come out all guns blazing in search of goals to turn the tie around on Thursday, but Sturm Graz have the stronger squad and should take advantage.
We fancy Christian Ilzer's side to prevail again on the night and progress to the final 16 with a dominant aggregate triumph.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
