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Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa Conference League clash between Istanbul Basaksehir and Royal Antwerp, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

With just two games separating the teams from a place in the sophomore edition of the Europa Conference League, Istanbul Basaksehir and Royal Antwerp lock horns in the first leg of their playoff tie at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

The home side saw off the threat of Breidablik in the previous round of the qualifiers, while the visitors eased past the challenge of Lillestrom.

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Match preview

Istanbul Basaksehir were held to a goalless stalemate against Konyaspor when the teams faced off at the Yeni Eskisehir Stadyumu on Monday.

Despite having the majority of the ball possession as well as territorial advantage, Emre Belozoglu's failed to find that all-important breakthrough.

As a result, the Grey Owls sit fourth in the Super Lig table with four points from their opening two games, two points adrift of current leaders Adana Demirspor.

The Turkish outfit now set out to take the penultimate step toward securing European football for the sixth time in the last seven campaigns.

With seven wins and three draws from their most recent 10 games on home turf, Thursday's hosts now set out to put on another impressive display in front of their fans.

Royal Antwerp made it seven straight wins across all competitions as they defeated Eupen 1-0 at the Kehrwegstadion on Sunday afternoon.

Mark van Bommel's men were in the ascendancy for major spells of the game, but it took a Boris Lambert own goal 12 minutes from time to seal all three points.

This came off the back of a 2-0 victory for the Reds over Norwegian outfit Lillestrom in the second leg of their Conference League qualifying tie, which ended 5-1 on aggregate.

Off the back of six consecutive victories away from home including clean sheets in four of the matches, Thursday's visitors will be confident of keeping the juggernaut rolling on the road.

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Team News

Forward Stefano Okaka is expected to return to the starting XI here after having to make do with a place on the bench against Konyaspor.

With four goals in his last four appearances for the home side, 31-year-old Danijel Aleksic is definitely one to look out for here.

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was recently handed his Royal Antwerp debut over the weekend, and he will be pushing for a place in the starting XI here.

Meanwhile, Bjorn Engels remains sidelined with a knee injury which has seen the Belgian not feature for the visitors since early February.

Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Kaldirim, Touba, Ozbayrakli, Ndayishimiye; Sahiner, Biglia, Ozcan; Turuc, Okaka, Gurler

Royal Antwerp possible starting lineup:
Butez; De Laet, Alderweireld, Pacho, Vines; Gerkens, Nainggolan, Yusuf; Valencia, Frey, Balikwisha

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We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 Royal Antwerp

The teams boast a plethora of attacking talent on display, so we expect goals at both ends here. That said, we are also tipping the home team to emerge victorious, albeit by only a narrow margin.

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

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