Preview: Hibernian vs Legia Warsaw - prediction, team news, lineups

On Thursday, Scottish outfit Hibernian will welcome Polish side Legia Warsaw to Easter Road for the first leg of their Conference League playoff tie.

Hibernian squeezed past Partizan Belgrade in the previous round, while the visitors have dropped down after losing to AEK Larnaca in Europa League qualifying.

Match preview

Like Legia, Hibernian started their European journey in Europa League qualifying after finishing in third place in the Scottish Premiership last season.

However, they dropped down to the Conference League following an agonising extra-time defeat against Danish club FC Midtjylland.

Hibernian were forced to negotiate another period of extra-time in their Conference League third-round qualifying clash with Partizan, which saw them follow a 2-0 away win with a 3-1 loss in regulation time in regulation time in last week's return leg.

Fortunately for Hibernian, Chris Cadden netted the decisive goal in extra time against 10-man Partizan to seal a 4-3 victory on aggregate, leaving the Scottish side just one tie away from making their first appearance in a European league phase/group stage.

David Gray's side put their European campaign on hold to pick up a 2-0 away victory in Sunday's Scottish League Cup meeting with Livingston, thanks to goals from summer signings Thibault Klidje and Josh Mulligan.

That result represented a third consecutive away win for Hibs, although they are still searching for their first home win of the new season, having drawn one and lost two of their opening three matches at Easter Road.

Legia are aiming to progress to the main draw of a UEFA competition after featuring in the Europa League and Conference League league phase in the past two seasons.

The Polish outfit kicked off their latest European campaign with a 2-0 aggregate win over Aktobe in the first round of Europa League qualifying, before they recorded a dramatic 4-3 win in their second-round clash against Banik Ostrava.

Unfortunately for Legia, their participation in the Europa League was brought to an end in their recent tie against AEK Larnaca, with a 2-1 home win not enough to overturn the 4-1 defeat from the away leg.

They are now preparing to face Scottish opposition for the first time since losing 1-0 to Rangers in the 2019-20 Europa League qualifying playoff round.

Edward Iordanescu's side will travel to Scotland on the back of their first league defeat of the season after losing 1-0 in Sunday's away meeting with Ekstraklasa leaders Wisla Plock.

While they drew a blank at the weekend, Legia will fancy their chances of troubling their scorers on Thursday, having scored in each of their last 14 European away matches.

Hibernian Conference League form:

W L

Hibernian form (all competitions):

L W W D L W

Legia Warsaw form (all competitions):

W D L W W L

Team News

Hibernian are hopeful that Jamie McGrath will be ready for Thursday's fixture after missing the last two matches through injury.

If McGrath recovers in time, he could be thrown into the starting lineup to feature in a front three with Martin Boyle and Bowie.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Gray is likely to select a back three made up of Rocky Bushiri, Warren O'Hora and Jack Iredale.

Meanwhile, Legia remain without the services of goalkeeper Claude Goncalves, who has missed the last two matches through injury.

Midfielder Bartosz Kapustka is available for selection after serving a one-match ban in last week's clash with AEK Larnaca.

Ruben Vinagre, Rafal Augustyniak and Jean-Pierre Nsame are all set for recalls after dropping down to the bench at the weekend.

Hibernian possible starting lineup:

Smith; Bushiri, O'Hora, Iredale; Cadden, Levitt, Mulligan, Obita; Boyle, McGrath, Bowie

Legia Warsaw possible starting lineup:

Tobiasz; Wszolek, Ziolkowski, Kapuadi, Vinagre; Bichakhchyan, Augustyniak, Kapustka; Morishita, Rajovic, Nsame

We say: Hibernian 2-2 Legia Warsaw

Hibernian will be desperate to make full use of home advantage in the first leg, but having failed to win any of their opening three matches at Easter Road, we think they will be held to a draw by their Polish opponents.

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