Strasbourg – Mainz: Meinau ready to erupt as Europe calls 
Thursday night should be a live wire at Stade de la Meinau. Strasbourg host Mainz with a mountain to climb: they need to turn around a two-goal deficit. For both sides, a place in the last four of the Conference League is on the line. Expect the place to be rocking, with the home crowd trying to drag the Alsatians towards a famous comeback.
Strasbourg face the comeback test 
Let’s be blunt: Strasbourg took a proper beating in the first leg in Germany. Since English coach Gary O’Neil came in, Strasbourg have become a stubborn, hard-to-shift side, but clean wins don’t always come quickly. If they want to keep this run alive, they have to come out flying and land early blows to rattle the visitors.
Their back line will need to be spot on and absolutely not leak, because conceding first would make life a lot harder. Strasbourg fans want something heroic here, anything less and it’ll be a miserable night. They’ve got the firepower to turn this around, but they’ll need cold-blooded finishing when the chances come.
Mainz, the Bundesliga’s steady hand 
Mainz, meanwhile, have done a huge job under Urs Fischer. A few months ago they were still stuck in the relegation scrap; now they’re causing problems on the European stage. Their edge has come from rediscovered defensive grit, with plenty of recent clean sheets. In Alsace, they’ll probably need to sit deep for long spells and protect what they’ve got.
That said, Mainz do have the transition players to nick something on the break. If they handle the pressure at Meinau, they could seal a first-ever place in a European semi-final. They slipped in the league last weekend, but they’re still a tight, awkward team to play against. Fischer’s experience will matter a lot in a hostile setting like this.
Probable line-ups
Strasbourg : Penders ; Doue, Doukoure, Omobamidele, Chilwell ; El Mourabet, Oyedele, Barco ; Yassine ; Enciso, Godo
Mainz : Batz ; Da Costa, Posch, Kohr ; Widmer, Nebel, Sano, Kawasaki, Mwene ; Weiper, Tietz
Football prediction Strasbourg vs Mainz
Strasbourg win
This second leg has all the makings of a siege. Strasbourg should come out swinging from the first whistle, trying to whip up the crowd and erase the deficit. At home, they ought to edge it, because the urge to make a mark in Europe is huge. Still, turning over a two-goal gap against a defence as disciplined as Mainz’s won’t be easy. We’re backing a home win, but the tie itself should stay alive right to the end.
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