After playing out a goalless draw in the first leg, Young Boys will host Slovan Bratislava in the second leg of Wednesday's Champions League second qualifying round tie.
The Swiss outfit are looking to progress to the group stages of Europe's elite club competition for just the second time in their history, while the Slovakian visitors have never advanced from this stage of qualifying.
Match preview
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Despite dominating the first leg with 63% possession, Young Boys failed to carve out any clear-cut chances, with their only two shots on target coming from distance.
However, last season's Swiss champions – who finished 31 points above Basel to win their fourth successive title – were able to find their form in front of goal last weekend. The Bern-based outfit beat Luzern 4-3 away from home, with a dramatic 93rd-minute winner from Theoson Siebatcheu securing all three points in their opening game of the new campaign.
Former Huddersfield Town and Schalke 04 boss David Wagner, who was appointed Young Boys head coach in June, will have been pleased to open his account domestically, though conceding three goals will be a slight cause for concern heading into the second leg.
Young Boys progressed to the third-round qualification stage last season, before losing 3-0 to Danish side FC Midtjylland, and will fancy their chances of reaching this stage again on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Weiss will also believe his Slovan Bratislava side have what it takes to advance from the second qualifying round, something the club have never achieved before.
The 11-time Slovakian top-flight champions – who won their third successive title last season – head into the second leg after comfortably beating Liptovsky Mikulas 4-1 away from home in their opening league game last weekend.
In fact, this was their seventh away victory in eight matches across all competitions, including results from last season, with their only defeat on the road being in the previous round of Champions League qualification, losing 2-1 to Shamrock Rovers earlier this month.
Bratislava are locking horns with Young Boys for the fourth time in a European competition on Wednesday. Prior to last week's draw, the Sky Blues were beaten on both occasions by their Swiss opposition in the 2014-15 Europa League, losing by an aggregate score of 8-1.
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Team News
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Young Boys are still without captain Fabian Lustenberger and key forward Jean-Pierre Nsame, who continue to recover from Achilles tendon ruptures, while Nico Maier and Joel Monteiro are also on the treatment table with injuries.
The absence of Nsame in attack will likely see Siebatcheu and Felix Mambimbi keep their places up front, with Meschak Elia and Moumi Ngamaleu set to provide width from the flanks.
Summer recruits Alex Jankewitz and forward Jordan Siebatcheu, who have arrived from Southampton and Rennes respectively, were not in the squad for the first leg but could be in contention to feature on Wednesday.
Slovan Bratislava are unlikely to make too many changes to the lineup that started last week, though right-back Jurij Medvedev is not expected to feature after suffering concussion in the first leg, with Lukas Pauschek the most likely candidate to replace him.
Left-back Lucas Lovat and midfielder David Holman are both unavailable for selection as they continue to recover from injury.
Former Manchester City winger Vladimir Weiss – who is the third generation in his family with that name to play professionally, after his manager and father as well as his grandfather – is expected to remain in an advanced central midfield role along with Jaba Kankava, while Rafael Ratao is set to lead the line in attack.
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Von Ballmoos; Hefti, Camara, Zesiger, Garcia; Ngamaleu, Aebischer, Sierro, Elia; Mambimbi, Siebatcheu
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Chovan; Pauschek, Bozhikov, Kashia, De Marco; De Kamps; Cavric, Weiss, Kankava, Zmrhal; Ratao
We say: Young Boys 2-1 Slovan Bratislava (2-1 on aggregate)
After a cagey and goalless first-leg encounter, we are expecting a more open game on Friday, with both teams hoping to rediscover their form in front of goal.
Even though the injuries to Lustenberger and Nsame are big blows for Young Boys, we feel that they have enough strength in depth to cope and secure a narrow victory in Bern.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Young Boys win with a probability of 58.73%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Slovan Bratislava had a probability of 17.98%.
The most likely scoreline for a Young Boys win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.34%) and 2-1 (9.68%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.03%), while for a Slovan Bratislava win it was 0-1 (6.29%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Young Boys would win this match.
