Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa League clash between Ludogorets Razgrad and FK Zalgiris, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Ludogorets Razgrad and FK Zalgiris will do battle in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying tie at the Huvepharma Arena on Thursday.

Having both seen their Champions League hopes come to an end, the teams will be keen to avoid missing out on Europe's secondary club tournament.

Match preview

Ludogorets Razgrad suffered a 4-2 defeat in the return fixture of their Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Zagreb at the Stadion Maksimir.

Ante Simundza's men were left with a mountain to climb at half time as they trailed courtesy of Josip Drmic's opener and Mislav Orsic's double, after which Kiril Despodov pulled two goals back only for Bruno Petkovic to put the game to bed in the 87th minute.

This came off the back of a 2-1 defeat against the same opponents on August 2 to complete a disappointing 6-3 aggregate defeat for Ludogorets.

Coming up next for the Eagles is a clash against a Zalgiris side who were defeated 5-3 over two legs when the teams faced off back in 2017.

With clean sheets in five of their last six home games, Thursday's hosts will be looking to keep it tight at the back en route to another positive result on their own turf.

Following a 5-0 defeat against Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of their Champions League tie, Zalgiris had little to play for in last Tuesday's return leg which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Vladimir Cheburin's men did however claim a convincing 5-1 victory over Riteriai in their subsequent league outing on Sunday at the LFF Stadionas.

Consequently, the Green Whites remain top of the A Lyga, level on points with nearest challengers Hegelmann albeit having played four games fewer.

With just one defeat in 14 matches away from home since the turn of the year, Thursday's visitors now seek another feather in the cap on the road to help preserve their already-diminished European ambition.

Ludogorets Razgrad form (all competitions):

FK Zalgiris form (all competitions):

Team News

Dominik Yankov, Rick and Zan Karnicnik were sent off in Ludogorets' last European involvement, and the trio are therefore suspended for Thursday's contest.

Kiril Despodov was at the double in the aforementioned game, and the 25-year-old will be looking to deliver the goods for the home side once again.

Petar Mamic will not play any part for Zalgiris here after the Croatian defender received his marching orders in the 1-1 stalemate against Bodo/Glimt.

Renan Oliveira has scored three goals in his last three away games for the visitors, making the forward one to look out for in this one.

Ludogorets Razgrad possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Nedyalkov, Plastun, Verdon, Cicinho; Show, Piotrowski, Yordanov; Despodov, Igor, Delev

FK Zalgiris possible starting lineup:
Gertmonas; Mikoliunas, Pavelic, Ljubisavljevic, Kazukolovas; Buff, Gorobsov, Milickovic, Ourega; Oliveira, Kyeremeh

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We say: Ludogorets Razgrad 2-0 FK Zalgiris

Ludogorets know that they must capitalise on playing in front of their fans if they are to be in the driving seat of the tie ahead of next week's return leg. We are backing them to get the job done come the sound of the final whistle.

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

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.