Preview: Besiktas vs St Patrick's Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

Turkish giants Besiktas will host Irish side St Patrick's Athletic at Tupras Stadium on Thursday in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie.

The Black Eagles have one foot in the next round after dismantling the Saints 4-1 in Dublin last week, and will look to finish the job at home.

Match preview

Besiktas dropped into the Conference League only after being eliminated from the Europa League qualifiers by Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, and they displayed that European pedigree in the first leg.

Loan signing Tammy Abraham netted a first-half hat-trick after Joao Mario had opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes.

That emphatic win in Dublin snapped a four-game losing streak in all competitions, which had included pre-season defeats to Wolfsberger and Petrzalka.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have enjoyed a full week of rest and preparation, with the Turkish Football Federation postponing their opening league match to accommodate their European schedule.

While Besiktas lost 4-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in their most recent outing at Tupras Stadium, their healthy aggregate lead means they are firmly in control and in an excellent position to wrap up the tie.

Simon Power’s strike for St Pat’s four minutes into the second half of the first leg briefly hinted at a comeback, but they failed to build on that moment, leaving them with a mountain to climb in Istanbul.

The Saints, who eased past Lithuanian side Hegelmann in the opening round and edged past Nomme Kalju in extra time in the second, look set for another early European exit.

Last season, they reached the playoff round before losing 2-0 on aggregate to Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, a fate that appears likely to befall them even earlier this year.

Stephen Kenny’s side saw their eight-match unbeaten run halted by Besiktas but bounced back with a 3-0 league win over Sligo Rovers at the weekend, leaving them sixth in the League of Ireland Premier Division after 27 matches.

Besiktas Conference League form:

Besiktas form (all competitions):

St Patrick's Athletic Conference League form:

St Patrick's Athletic form (all competitions):

Team News

Besiktas are set to remain without former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is recovering from a ligament injury.

Hat-trick hero, Abraham is expected to spearhead the attack again and will be looking to add to his tally on Thursday.

St Pat’s will also remain without midfielder Romal Palmer, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and has no set return date.

Power will hope to make his mark once again, when he lines up alongside young forward Mason Melia, and Jake Mulraney in a three-man attack.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Gunok; Svensson, Gabriel, Topcu, Jurasek; Tiknaz, Kokcu; Muci, Silva, Mario; Abraham

St Patrick's Athletic possible starting lineup:

Anang; McLaughlin, Redmond, Grivosti, McClelland; Forrester, Lennon, Leavy; Mulraney, Melia, Power

We say: Besiktas 3-0 St Patrick's Athletic (Besiktas 7-1 St Patrick’s aggregate)

With a 4-1 first-leg advantage and home support at Tupras Stadium, Besiktas are overwhelming favourites to progress, and we expect them to do so with another convincing win over St Patrick’s, giving their firepower and overwhelmingly better quality across board.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.