Preview: Hearts vs Sturm Graz - prediction, team news, lineups

Hearts will welcome Sturm Graz to Tynecastle Park on Tuesday evening for the second leg of their Champions League second qualifying round clash.

The Jambos have a mountain to climb after a catastrophic first-leg in Austria, where the Blacks ran out 4-0 winners.

Match preview

Wouter Vracken's tenure as Hearts manager got off to a nightmare start last week, with the Belgian suffering a 4-0 defeat in his first competitive fixture at the helm.

Despite taking 19 shots and creating five big chances, Hearts failed to breach Daniil Khudyakov's net, while their vulnerability from set-pieces and a disastrous start to the second half mean the Jambos now face a daunting task if they are to keep their hopes of reaching the league phase alive.

Hearts were able to bounce back with a 1-0 friendly win against Raith Rovers three days after the first-leg loss, and they will have to draw confidence from that result and their return to Tynecastle Park if they are to have any chance of progressing.

The Jambos, competing in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in 20 years following a second-placed finish in the Scottish Premiership last term, look almost certain to drop into the Europa League, where they would face either Benfica or St Gallen.

Meanwhile, Fabio Ingolitsch's team travel to Scotland firmly in the driving seat thanks to their impressive first-leg victory.

Jon Gorenc Stankovic settled any early nerves with a fourth-minute header, before Jeyland Mitchell, Luca Weinhandl and Jurgen Heil all added to the scoring within 15 minutes of the second-half restart.

The triumph means Sturm Graz are one step closer to securing a sixth consecutive appearance in the league phase or group stage of either the Europa League or Champions League, although their sights will be set on qualifying for Europe's premier competition for just the second time since 2001.

The Blacks followed up the first-leg win with a 3-0 victory against Seekirchen in the OFB Cup, meaning they head into Tuesday's encounter with just one loss in their last 22 games, alongside 12 wins and nine draws.

That sole defeat was a 6-2 friendly loss to LNZ Cherkasy, and they must avoid another defeat by four or more goals if they are to ensure their progression to the third qualifying round, where they would meet either Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze.

Sturm Graz will, therefore, draw further confidence from the fact they have not lost by such a margin in a competitive setting since a 5-0 loss to Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of last season's Champions League play-off qualifying round.

Hearts Champions League form:

Sturm Graz Champions League form:

Sturm Graz form (all competitions):

Team News

Vrancken could opt to make several changes to the Hearts side that started in the lacklustre first-leg defeat.

Amadou Ba-Sy, who scored twice in Hearts' 2-1 friendly win against Rayo Vallecano earlier this month, could partner Claudio Braga in attack, with Alexandros Kyziridis and Sabah Kerjota providing width.

Further back, Tomas Magnusson could partner Oisin McEntee in midfield, while Stuart Findlay may come back into the defence after being benched in the first leg.

Sturm Graz will remain without Amady Camara due to a thigh strain, while Jacob Hodl is a doubt to feature after coming off with an injury concern in the first leg.

Ryan Fosso, who replaced Hodl and also scored in Sturm Graz's 3-0 win against Seekirchen, could come into the starting lineup, while Ingolitsch may otherwise decide to name an unchanged team from the first leg.

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Schwolow; Borchgrevink, Fagan-Walcott, Findlay, Milne; Magnusson, McEntee; Kerjota, Ba-Sy, Kyziridis; Braga

Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:

Khudyakov; Heil, Vallci, Mitchell, Soglo; Seidl, Stankovic, Weinhandl, Fosso; Wlodarczyk, Jatta

We say: Hearts 1-2 Sturm Graz

Hearts will have to push plenty of men forward if they are to have any chance of getting back into the tie, and that should allow Sturm Graz to capitalise on the counter-attack.

Although we expect the Jambos to get on the scoresheet in the second leg, we predict the added space on the break will see the Blacks extend their aggregate victory.

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