Braga largely controlled the first leg in Serbia where they came away with a 1-0 victory. Zeleznicar Pancevo are likely to be outclassed in this one, the Portuguese club to win to nil once again.
HTH
These clubs met for the first time last week, Braga winning 1-0 in Serbia.
Confidence High in Braga
Braga had a strong preseason, winning their opening four games with 10 goals scored and one conceded. They ended with a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo.
The Warriors outclassed Zeleznicar Pancevo in the Conference League qualifiers last week. It was a game of few chances, Ricardo Horta’s second half penalty the difference.
Manager Carlos Vicens expects his team to improve in the second leg: "We need to be better, and we'll have another week of work."
"We'll delve deeper into our concepts, our physical conditioning, and our connection with the players who arrived this season. I'm confident we'll put on a much better performance than we did today."
Zeleznicar Making their European Debut
Zeleznicar Pancevo finished fourth in the SuperLiga last season, qualifying for a European competition for the first time.
Radomir Kokovic’s side started the new campaign with a 2-1 victory over Radnicki Nis. Nikola Jovanovic scored early on and Nikola Djuricic restored the lead in the second half, both teams ending with under 1.00 xG.
The Serbian side suffered a 1-0 defeat against Braga in the Conference League qualifiers last week. Chances were few and far between once again which means a tough battle is likely in Portugal.
Predicted Lineups & Team News
Braga (3-4-3) Lukas Hornicek; Sergio Barcia, Vitor Carvalho, Bright Arrey-Mbi; Víctor Gómez, Gorby Baptiste, João Moutinho, Gabri Martínez; Gabriel Silva, Pau Victor, Ricardo Horta
Sikou Niakaté and Adrian Barisic are injured with Gustaf Lagerbielke, Adrian Bajrami and Jonatás Noro options to start in central defence.
Newcastle are interested in signing goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek who could miss out as a result. Bernardo Fontes, João Carvalho and Tiago Sá are in contention to start if required.
Zeleznicar Pancevo (4-3-3) Zoran Popovic; Nikola Djuricic, Nemanja Vidojevic, Mirko Milikic, Uros Tegeltija; Kristian Sekularac, Janko Jevremovic, Clément Lhernault; Nikola Jovanovic, Simão Pedro, Sylvester Jasper