Preview: St Patrick's Athletic vs Besiktas - prediction, team news, lineups

St Patrick’s Athletic will host Turkish giants Besiktas at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie.

The Irish outfit are hoping to reach the league phase of a European competition for the first time in their history but must now overcome their biggest challenge yet after successfully navigating the first two rounds.

Match preview

St Pat’s brushed aside Lithuanian side Hegelmann with relative ease in the opening round, securing a 3-0 aggregate victory after a solid home win and a professional job away.

However, their second-round clash against Nomme Kalju proved far more testing, having won 1-0 in Dublin, they lost 2-1 in the return leg, forcing extra time, where they had to dig deep for a goal that helped them edge through 3-2 on aggregate.

Having survived that scare, they now face an even sterner test against one of Turkey’s most successful clubs, and the Irish side must come prepared if they want to avoid lightning striking twice.

Last season, the Saints reached the playoff round but were beaten 2-0 over two legs by another Turkish outfit, Istanbul Basaksehir, a fate they will be determined to avoid this time.

While they finished third in last season’s League of Ireland Premier Division to qualify for Europe, their current campaign has been inconsistent, with Stephen Kenny’s men sitting sixth after 26 matches.

However, they are unbeaten in their last eight across all competitions, including a 2-0 league win over Waterford on Sunday.

Besiktas, meanwhile, enter the Conference League after being eliminated from the Europa League, suffering a heavy 6-2 aggregate defeat to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.

Now under the leadership of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Black Eagles will be desperate to steady the ship, though recent results have been underwhelming.

The Turkish side have lost four matches in a row, including 3-2 and 2-1 defeats in friendlies against Wolfsberger and Petrzalka, respectively.

In fact, they have failed to win any of their last five games, including a 1-1 draw against Admira, with their only success in pre-season coming against Austrian side SKN St. Polten.

St Patrick's Athletic Conference League form:

St Patrick's Athletic form (all competitions):

Besiktas Conference League form:

Besiktas form (all competitions):

Team News

St Pat’s will be without midfielder Romal Palmer, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and has no set return date.

Young forward Mason Melia, who scored in the first qualifying round and again in the weekend’s league victory, is expected to lead the line once more.

Besiktas are also missing key midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is recovering from a ligament injury.

Tammy Abraham, who netted in the second leg against Shakhtar, is likely to spearhead the attack again and will be looking to add to his tally on Thursday.

St Patrick's Athletic possible starting lineup:

Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Hoare, McClelland; Lennon, Baggley; Elbouzedi, Kavangh, Mulraney; Melia

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Gunok; Svensson, Gabriel, Uduokhai, Jurasek; Tiknaz, Kokcu; Rashica, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Abraham

We say: St Patrick's Athletic 1-2 Besiktas

St Patrick’s Athletic are enjoying a strong unbeaten run and will take confidence from their recent home performances, but despite Besiktas’ poor form and defensive issues, their quality and European experience could shine through.

With both teams having something to prove, a tight contest is expected, but the visitors may edge it narrowly ahead of the second leg in Turkey.

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