An historic continental campaign begins for St Johnstone on Thursday, as the Scottish cup double winners travel to Galatasaray for the first leg of their Europa League third round qualifying tie.
Callum Davidson's men enter at this stage courtesy of their domestic triumphs in the 2020-21 season, while Galatasaray have dropped down from the Champions League qualifying rounds.
Match preview
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Galatasaray were up against it with less than two minutes on the clock during their Champions League second qualifying round first leg against PSV Eindhoven last month, as Eran Zahavi's early strike set the Israeli striker on his way to a hat-trick during a 5-1 rout, where Mario Gotze also bagged a brace.
The return leg in Turkey was a much more closely-fought affair, but PSV ended up on the correct end of the scoreline as a 2-1 win saw them claim a romping 7-2 aggregate success over Fatih Terim's men, who have now failed to make the Champions League group stages for the second year running.
Still waiting to kick off their Super Lig campaign - which begins on August 16 versus Giresunspor - a lack of competitive action evidently contributed to Galatasaray's downfall against PSV, but a fixture with Danish side Danders awaits for the Turkish side should they get the better of St Johnstone.
However, Galatasaray do not have fond memories of recent encounters against Scottish sides, as Terim's men were sent packing 2-1 by Rangers at the final hurdle for Europa League group stage qualification last season.
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Having etched his name into St Johnstone managerial folklore, Callum Davidson now prepares to lead the Scottish Cup and League Cup double winners through their first continental campaign since the 2017-18 Europa League, which ended calamitously with a first-round defeat to Lithuanian side Trakai.
St Johnstone developed an affinity for goalless stalemates during an unbeaten pre-season period and stayed true to that penchant during their first fixture of the Scottish Premiership season, as Davidson's men drew 0-0 with Ross County on the opening weekend.
The best opportunity of the tie was presented to Ali McCann from 12 yards, but the 21-year-old could not keep his penalty down, although Davidson was able to take the positives from his side's display in the second 45 at the Global Energy Stadium.
Domestic travails take a back seat for now, though, as St Johnstone seek to qualify for the Europa League playoff round for the first time ever and take one step closer to the promised land of the group stages, but a club of Galatasaray's continental calibre will provide the sternest test of Davidson's managerial Saints career so far.
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Team News
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Galatasaray's raft of changes for the second leg against PSV gave the Turkish side a greater competitive edge, and a similar lineup could therefore take to the field for Thursday's battle.
Former West Bromwich Albion loanee Mbaye Diagne came off the bench to net his side's goal in Holland, and he could come into Terim's thinking for a start over Mostafa Mohamed.
Patrick Van Aanholt - a recent arrival from Crystal Palace - is struggling to hit full fitness, while Emre Akbaba (coronavirus) and Omar Elabdellaoui (eye) have not been included in the squad.
Meanwhile, St Johnstone number nine Chris Kane was restricted to an expected bench appearance at Ross County but may now be deemed fit enough for a start up top on the big occasion, while Craig Bryson is out with a ligament injury.
Davidson sang the praises of 19-year-old defender Reece Devine following his debut at the weekend, and the teenager may be considered for a battle of this magnitude given Callum Booth's injury woes.
The Saints boss has also confirmed that progress has been made in the club's pursuit of Eetu Vertainen, but the visitors must retain the faith in their current attacking options for now.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Yedlin, Luyindama, Marcao, Bayram; Feghouli, Kilinc, Kara, Yilmaz; Akturkoglu, Diagne
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Kerr, McCart, Gordon; Rooney, Craig, Davidson, Devine; Wotherspoon; Kane, Hendry
We say: Galatasaray 3-1 St Johnstone
St Johnstone's plethora of attacking options can surely trouble this Galatasaray defence in the first leg, but the Scottish side are unlikely to experience much joy beyond the odd goal or two.
Davidson's men have earned their right to be here just as much as their hosts, but we expect the quality of the Turkish giants to shine through during a resounding first-leg triumph.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Galatasaray win with a probability of 40.22%. A win for St Johnstone had a probability of 33.73% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Galatasaray win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.62%) and 2-0 (6.88%). The likeliest St Johnstone win was 0-1 (8.89%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.37%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.
