Preview: Legia Warsaw vs. Slavia Prague - prediction, team news, lineups

With the game truly in the balance, Slavia Prague will make the trip to Poland on Thursday to take on Legia Warsaw in their Europa League playoff tie, with a place in the group stage on the line.

An intriguing opening leg finished 2-2, meaning the side from the Polish capital have home advantage as the sides square off on level terms.

Match preview

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Legia Warsaw's continental campaign started in style, as they recorded a 5-2 aggregate win over Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt and a 3-1 aggregate victory over Estonian side Flora to take major steps towards reaching the Champions League group stage.

However, they would fall at the next hurdle as Dinamo Zagreb picked up a narrow 2-1 win over two legs in the third qualifying round, forcing Czeslaw Michniewicz's men to battle for a spot in Europe's secondary competition as a result.

They were handed a tough draw against Czech champions Slavia Prague in the playoff round, but the Wojskowi looked unfazed as they took the lead on two separate occasions through Mahir Emreli and Josip Juranovic.

While they did not come out of that game as winners, the Polish champions will take confidence from an impressive away performance, while they also gained momentum by bouncing back from the defeat to Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 league win over Warta Poznan, collecting a second top-flight victory of the season in their bid to retain the Polish title.

They will now look to progress to the group stage of this year's Europa League, but face a difficult task as Sparta Prague arrive with the hopes of collecting an impressive away win.

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The Czech outfit also began in this year's qualifying stage for the Champions League, but a 2-1 defeat to Ferencvaros in the third round saw them fall into the Europa League playoff stage with a clash against Legia Warsaw.

Alexander Bah and Lukas Masopust both hit goals to draw Jindrich Trpisovsky's men level and ensure they come into the second leg on level terms, as they go in search of another successful Europa League campaign after last year's heroics.

In the 2020-21 campaign, Slavia Prague progressed through a tough group, finishing second behind Bayer Leverkusen with 12 points, and they made the round of 16 with an impressive 2-0 aggregate win over Leicester City, as both goals came in the away leg in England.

The Czech champions then dumped Scottish giants Rangers out of the tournament in the final 16 with a 3-1 aggregate victory, before they were eventually knocked out by Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

Having already won their first four league games, Trpisovsky's men will be desperate to repeat the impressive feats of last season, as they had an eye-catching continental run and won the domestic league by 12 points, with progression to the Europa League crucial in setting up another strong campaign.

Team News

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Legia Warsaw are expected to field a very similar side to the one that travelled to Prague and earned a commendable draw, with Lindsay Rose, Mateusz Wieteska and Maik Nawrocki playing at the heart of a formidable back line.

Mahir Emreli should again lead the line after hitting the opening goal in that game, while Luquinhas also offers plenty of quality in the final third.

Experienced goalkeeper Artur Boruc returned to the club last year after over a decade away, initially having a particularly successful spell with Scottish giants Celtic before featuring in Italy for Fiorentina and in the Premier League for Southampton and Bournemouth, and he offers vital experience as they look to reach the Europa League group stage.

There were only limited changes between the Slavia Prague XI that fell just short against Ferencvaros and the one that drew the first leg with Legia Warsaw, and Trpisovsky should again stick with his established core.

Czech international Tomas Holes will lead the back line, while Jakub Hromada will likely sit alongside Ibrahim Traore in front of the back four.

Further forward, they have an abundance of attacking options to choose from, with Stanislav Tecl expected to lead the line after netting a goal in their recent league win, while the likes of Ubong Ekpai, Ondrej Lingr, Ivan Schranz, Lukas Masopus, Nicolae Stanciu and Abdallah Sima will all compete for spots in the trio behind the lone striker.

Legia Warsaw possible starting lineup:

Boruc; Juranovic, Rose, Wieteska, Nawrocki, Mladenovic; Skibicki, Martins, Lopes, Luquinhas; Emreli

Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:

Kolar; Bah, Holes, Zima, Dorley; Hromada, Traore; Masopust, Stanciu, Ekpai; Tecl

We say: Legia Warsaw 1-2 Slavia Prague (Slavia Prague win 4-3 on aggregate)

While Legia Warsaw put up an impressive display away from home, dominating portions of the game and bringing a draw into the home leg, we think the visitors have more quality in their squad and tip them to get over the line.

While this could certainly go either way, Slavia Prague's Europa League run last season showed their impressive ability, and they should have enough to progress if they can channel that into Thursday's second leg.