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

Legia Warsaw and Hibernian square off in the second leg of their Conference League playoff tie on Thursday night.

The Polish giants hold the advantage heading into this encounter having returned from their trip to Scotland with a 2-1 lead.

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Match preview

Bidding to earn a rare appearance in the main stage of a European competition, the odds have been stacked against Hibernian with fixtures against FC Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade and Legia Warsaw.

David Gray's side lost out 3-2 on aggregate to Danish outfit Midtjylland in their Europa League second qualifying round before the Scottish Premiership club upset the odds with a 4-3 aggregate success over Serbian giants Partizan in dramatic style.

However, Hibs will need to pull off their best continental performance in recent memory to keep European football on their calendar for 2025-26 after losing the first leg to Legia Warsaw at Easter Road.

Positives can be taken from an 86th-minute goal that halved the deficit when their Polish opponents held a 2-0 lead at their Edinburgh home.

Nevertheless, Hibs now need to call upon the spirit that they shown in their recent away success at Partizan to overturn this tie.

Like their opponents, they had a weekend off in order to prepare for this contest, Hibs currently third in the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand having collected four points from their opening two matches.

As for Legia Warsaw, they find themselves all the way down in eight position in the Ekstraklasa with seven points from four matches, holding two games in hand on the majority of teams above them.

However, starting the domestic campaign with just two wins from four fixtures and losing to leaders Wisla Plock will not exactly fill Edward Iordanescu with complete confidence ahead of this encounter.

Legia Warsaw were quarter-finalists in this competition in 2024-25, losing to eventual winners Chelsea, but they lost to Cypriot side AEK Larnaca via a 4-3 aggregate scoreline in the Europa League third qualifying round to drop into the third-tier tournament.

Legia Warsaw Conference League form:

Legia Warsaw form (all competitions):

Hibernian Conference League form:

Hibernian form (all competitions):

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Team News

Barring any fitness issues, Iordanescu may be prepared to name the same Legia Warsaw XI from last week's victory in Scotland.

Jean-Pierre Nsame has now scored five goals in European competition this season and should keep his place ahead of Mileta Rajovic.

Ryoya Morishita would have been in contention to start in a creative role but he signed for Blackburn Rovers on Monday.

Meanwhile, a 53rd-minute triple-change made by Hibs boss Gray helped his side salvage something from the first leg and that could lead to alterations.

Midfielder Miguel Chaiwa, wide-midfielder Nicky Cadden and playmaker Jamie McGrath were all introduced at that point in the previous game.

Legia Warsaw possible starting lineup:

Tobiasz; Jedrzejczyk, Ziolkowski, Kapuadi; Wszolek, Bichakhchyan, Augustyniak, Vinagre; Elitim, Kapustka; Nsame

Hibernian possible starting lineup:

Smith; Iredale, O'Hora, Bushiri; C.Cadden, Chaiwa, Mulligan, Obita; McGrath, Boyle; Bowie

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We say: Legia Warsaw 2-1 Hibernian (Legia Warsaw to win 4-2 on aggregate)

 

With Legia Warsaw having been far from convincing in the Polish top flight, Hibs will fancy their chances of at least taking the tie to extra time. However, we cannot back against Legia Warsaw in front of their own supporters, leading us to back a home win and European exit for Hibs.

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

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