Newly-crowned Irish champions Shamrock Rovers face off against Gent on matchday five of the Europa Conference League on Thursday night at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.
The hosts' chances of qualification to the knockout stages of the competition ended after defeat against Molde a fortnight ago, whereas Gent need to match or better Molde's result this week to give them any hope of finishing in the top two in Group F.
Match preview
Derry City's goalless draw at Sligo Rovers on Monday night meant Shamrock Rovers became champions of the League of Ireland for a third consecutive year, having not finished top of the pile since 2011 before this short period of dominance.
A 20th league title gives Rovers a coveted place in next season's Champions League qualifying rounds, a berth that led them to the Europa Conference League group stage in this campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Stephen Bradley's side have found the step up to European competition difficult and are yet to score a goal after four games in Group F, whilst only managing to collect a single point.
A place in the next stage of the Conference League may not be at stake in Dublin on Thursday night, but the home crowd will be in the mood for a celebration and the club will be keenly aware of how prize money for a victory could help the club massively as they look to dominant the Irish game for years to come.
Shamrock can also take confidence heading into this clash from their impeccable home record, as they are unbeaten at Tallaght in 17 league matches, only dropping points on two occasions.
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Gent have work to do on the final two matchdays of Group F if they are to advance to the knockout stages of the Conference League this season.
Group leaders Djurgarden have derailed the Belgian side's steady start to their European campaign defeating them at the GHELAMCO-Arena and then again in the return fixture on matchday four by an emphatic 4-2 scoreline.
Hein Vanhaezebrouck will be hoping his team can improve on their travels in Dublin, as they look to end a record of only one away victory in only two months in all competitions.
Belgian forward Hugo Cuypers could be the man who earns Gent a vital win against Shamrock, with the 25-year-old netting a team-leading seven goals domestically and two in the Europa Conference league so far, with one of those European strikes coming against Thursday's opponents in the convincing 3-0 victory on matchday two.
Team News
With the League of Ireland title wrapped up, Bradley is expected to name a strong XI in Shamrock's last home fixture of their Europa Conference League campaign, which should see Jack Byrne, Graham Burke and Rory Gaffney all retain their places up front.
Gary O'Neil is a doubt for Thursday night after picking up a knock just over a week ago in a league match away at Drogheda United.
Irishman O'Neil has not missed a minute of Rovers' European fixtures this season but Chris McCann will take his place in the midfield alongside Richard Towell for this one.
Gent have a growing list of injury concerns ahead of the journey to Ireland on Thursday, with Elisha Owusu and Julien De Sart out with issues sustained against Union Saint Gilloise last week in the Belgian League.
Shamrock Rovers possible starting lineup:
Mannus; Cleary, Lopes, Hoare; Finn, Towell, McCann, Lyons; Burke, Byrne, Gaffney
Gent possible starting lineup:
Nardi; Okumu, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Torunarigha; Samoise, Marreh, Kums, Nurio; Hjulsager, Hong, Cuypers
We say: Shamrock Rovers 0-2 Gent
Shamrock are out of the competition with two games to go but a brilliant domestic home record suggests Gent will not have it all their own way on Thursday night.
However, the reverse fixture in Belgium earlier in the group stage put on display the gulf in quality between the two teams, something that should shine through once again in a must-win game for the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
