Hacken will be looking to extend their two-goal advantage against FK Zalgiris in the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round at Bravida Arena on Thursday evening.

The hosts took the lead in the tie, winning the first leg 3-1 last week, and are now just 90 minutes away from a playoff clash against Scottish side Aberdeen.

Match preview

Having won their maiden Allsvenskan league title last season, Hacken were involved in Champions League qualification over the past few weeks, but their journey was brought to an end by KI Klasvik in the second round with penalties being needed to separate the sides after 180 minutes of football.

They are now competing in the Europa League for the first time since the 2018-19 season and marked their return with an excellent performance last week in a match that was very evenly balanced in all aspects apart from the scoreline.

Per-Mathias Hogmo's side managed 51% of possession and had just four shots at goal, compared to their opponents eight, but they were the more clinical, with Srdan Hrstic scoring twice before Mikkel Rygaard added the third.

Since then, Hacken also cut the gap to league leaders Elfsborg to a single point by beating Varberg 2-0 over the weekend, while the Yellow Ones were beaten 1-0 by mid-table opposition Hammarby.

The hosts have made Bravida Arena something of a fortress of late, unbeaten in their last 10 competitive home matches, including nine wins and a draw, and they are the clear favourites to advance to the next round.

Meanwhile, Zalgiris picked up a much-needed win against Hegelmann Litauen in the A Lyga over the weekend to snap up a five-match winless streak that included three losses and two draws.

That win was only good enough to see them remain six points behind league leaders Panevezys, who have a game in hand and look set to dethrone Zalgiris after three consecutive title-winning campaigns.

Vladimir Cheburin's side were also involved in Champions League qualification, which began promisingly with a 2-1 aggregate win over Struga but came to an end in the second round against Galatasaray 3-2 on aggregate.

In the first leg of this tie last week, Zalgiris were the more attacking side over the 90 minutes but were wasteful with their finishing, with only defender Nassim Hnid managing to find the back of the net in his side's 15 attempts at goal.

The visitors finished bottom of their group in this competition last season and did not manage a single win in any of their three away matches in that time, which does not bode well for their chances of overturning the deficit in this one.

Team News

Hogmo will have two enforced absentees in this match, with Simon Gustafson still recovering from a thigh injury and Blair Turgott likely ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.

Amor Layouni scored his fifth goal in his last four matches against Varberg over the weekend, and he will likely keep his place in the front line alongside Ibrahim Sadiq, who is also the side's top scorer so far this season.

Mathias Oyewusi has been in sensational form domestically for Zalgiris and currently leads the A Lyga with 15 goals in 21 matches after scoring the opener last weekend against Hegelmann Litauen.

Marko Milickovic got his fifth goal of the season after coming off the bench in that match, and he will be hoping that his bright cameo is enough to earn him a return to the starting 11, potentially in place of Arvydas Novikovas.

Hacken possible starting lineup:
Abrahamsson; Sandberg, Hammar, Hovland, Hansen; Rygaard, Sa. Gustafson, Romeo; Layouni, Hrstic, Sadiq

FK Zalgiris possible starting lineup:
Gertmonas; Pavelic, Hnid, Vucur, Bopesu; Karashima, Kendysh, Gorobsov, Milickovic; Golubickas, Kehinde

We say: Hacken 2-1 FK Zalgiris

While the first leg proved to be a closely-contested encounter, we expect Hacken to control this encounter on their home patch, where they have been very impressive of late. We fancy the visitors will get on the scoresheet but feel it will not be enough to secure a victory.



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