Portuguese club Braga welcome Swiss outfit Servette to Estadio Municipal de Braga for the for the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie on Thursday evening.
While the victors of this two-legged contest will advance to the newly-expanded 2024-25 Europa League, the losers will face Chelsea in the Europa Conference League playoff round.
Match preview
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Braga secured a safe passage through to the third qualifying round after thrashing Israeli side Maccabi Petah Tikva 7-0 on aggregate in the previous round.
After two second-half goals sealed a 2-0 first-leg win on home soil, Braga took control of the tie in emphatic style, netting three goals in the opening 45 minutes of the reverse fixture last Thursday before an own goal and a late penalty from new signing Amine El Ouazzani in the second half rubbed salt into the wounds of MPT.
Under the tutelage of new head coach Daniel Sousa, who replaced Artur Jorge in May, Braga are seeking to avoid a repeat of last season's 6-5 aggregate defeat to Qarabag FK in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
Including qualifiers, Os Arsenalistas are competing in the Europa League for the eighth consecutive season, while their best result in the competition was back in 2010-11 when they reached the final, losing to fellow Portuguese side Porto.
Braga will be eyeing up another successful European run but must first navigate their way past Servette, with Thursday's first leg to be followed just three days later by their opening match of the new Primeira Liga season at home to Estrela.
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After competing in the Europa League group stage for the first time in their history last season, Servette are bidding to qualify for the same competition this term after finishing third in the 2023-24 Swiss Super League.
The Maroons won two of their three friendly fixtures before starting the new league campaign with three successive victories over Luzern, defending champions Young Boys and Yverdon Sport, scoring eight goals in the process.
However, Thomas Haberli's side suffered their first competitive defeat of the new season last Saturday when they were beaten 3-1 away against Lugano. Although Dereck Kutesa opened the scoring in the 61st minute, three goals in the space of just 11 minutes ultimately sealed victory for Lugano.
Servette, who currently sit second in the table and level on points with leaders Lugano, are now gearing up for three tricky fixtures, with a league encounter at home to Basel sandwiched between their two-legged contest against Braga.
Excluding friendlies, Servette travel to Portugal on Thursday having only won three of their last 10 away matches in all competitions, keeping just two clean sheets in the process.
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Team News
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As many as eight new players have arrived at Braga so far this summer, including attackers El Ouazzani and Roberto Fernandez who could both be handed starts in the final third with Bruma on Thursday.
Rodrigo Zalazar has contributed to four goals (two goals, two assists) in just two games so far this season and is expected to continue in midfield alongside Ricardo Horta and either Joao Moutinho or Gorby.
Bright Arrey-Mbi was handed his full debut in the second-leg rout of Maccabi Petah Tikva following his €6.2m transfer from Hannover, and the 21-year-old centre-back could retain his spot in defence alongside Sikou Niakate.
As for Servette, Steve Rouiller is serving a domestic suspension, but he is available to return on Thursday and could replace Anthony Baron to partner Yoan Severin in central defence.
Summer signings Julian von Moos and Usman Simbakoli both made substitute outings last time out and are in contention to make their first start for Servette against Braga.
However, both attackers face stern competition from Jeremy Guillemenot and Enzo Crivelli, who scored 20 goals between them last season, for a start as the central striker.
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Gomez, Arrey-Mbi, Niakate, Wdowik; Zalazar, Moutinho, Horta; Fernandez, El Ouazzani, Bruma
Servette possible starting lineup:
Mall; Tsunemoto, Rouiller, Severin, Mazikou; Ondoua, Cognat; Stevanovic, Antunes, Kutesa; Crivelli
We say: Braga 2-0 Servette
Servette cannot be taken lightly by Braga, but the Portuguese side will be considered as favourites to come out on top in Thursday's contest and should have few problems claiming a routine victory on home soil to give themselves an advantage heading into next week's second leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
