LASK Linz will hope to make it to the group stage of a European competition for a third successive season as they prepare to host St Johnstone in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off round tie on Thursday from Worthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt Austria.
The Austrians defeated Vojvodina from Serbia 7-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round, while The Saints lost 5-3 on aggregate to Galatasaray in their Europa League qualifier, relegating them into this tournament.
Match preview
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After capturing the Austrian Cup a season ago, LASK are eager to return to European competition, after making the group stage of the Europa League in each of the past two seasons, with their best finish coming in 2019-20 when they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Manchester United.
In the last round of qualifying for this competition, Die Laskler won their opening leg in Serbia 1-0 but conceded an early goal in the 13th minute in the return leg before coming alive, scoring six unanswered goals to advance to the play-off round.
Dominik Thalhammer and his side are highly progressive in their approach to the game, relying on a lot of possession while looking to move the ball quickly up the pitch.
That approach served them well in the play-off round of the Austrian Bundesliga last season, where they scored 55 goals in only 32 games, finishing in fourth place.
They have only ever played three matches against teams from Scotland and have yet to come away victorious, with their only points coming in the group stage of the 1995-96 UEFA Intertoto Cup, in a 1-1 draw with Patrick Thistle FC.
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The dream of playing in the Europa League collapsed for St Johnstone in the third qualifying round against the Turkish giants Galatasaray in a tie that they seemed to have well in hand.
Drawing 1-1 in the opening leg from Istanbul and with their second leg tied 1-1 in Scotland, Callum Davidson saw his team collapse in the second half, conceding three times in the final half-hour.
Coming off their best finish in Scotland since the 2016-17 campaign, this team are hoping to make the most of their second chance to play in Europe this season as they strive to make it beyond the qualifying stage of a European tournament for the first time since the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup.
Domestically their matches in recent history have traditionally been tight, low-scoring affairs, as they collected 11 clean sheets in the Premiership last season, but also went goalless in 11 of their fixtures.
They have drawn both of their Scottish Premiership matches so far this season and advanced to the third round of the Scottish League Cup this past weekend, defeating Arbroath FC 3-2 on penalties after the match ended 2-2 after extra time.
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Team News
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LASK winger Andreas Gruber is out with a cruciate ligament rupture, Christoph Monschein has a torn muscle bundle and Tobias Lawal underwent knee surgery in late June and will not be available for the foreseeable future.
Mamoudou Karamoko kickstarted the offence in the second leg of their conference league qualifier with Vojvodina, scoring the equaliser and winning goal, while Alexander Schlager picked up a clean sheet in the opening leg of that tie.
Peter Michorl scored the lone goal in their opening match victory last round, and he got the only goal in their defeat to SK Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga this past weekend.
Michael O'Halloran scored a late consolation goal in the second leg of St Johnstone's Europa League tie with Galatasaray, while Zander Clark already has one clean sheet in two matches played in the Scottish Premiership this year.
Stevie May led the team with five goals in the domestic campaign in 2020-21, but no Saints player has found the back of the net domestically for them so far after two games, with their only goal coming courtesy of an own-goal from Motherwell defender Stephen O'Donnell.
Jamie McCart was the hero in their Scottish Cup tie last weekend, scoring the equaliser in extra time to force penalties, where Ali McCann scored the decisive penalty to send St Johnstone through to the next round.
LASK Linz possible starting lineup:
Schlager; Boller, Wiesinger, Filipovic; Potzmann, Grgic, Michorl, Renner; Goiginger, Karamoko, Raguz
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Kerr, Gordon, McCart, Brown; McCann, Muller, Craig, Booth; O'Halloran, Hendry
We say: LASK Linz 2-1 St Johnstone
The Saints always seem to be able to keep a match close with their solid defensive play, but the experience of LASK should be enough to win this match, plus the Austrians are a lot more lethal in front of goal, particularly on their home pitch.
Joel Lefevre
