St Joseph’s will welcome Cliftonville to the Europa Sports Complex on Tuesday for the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League first-round qualifier.

Both sides are hoping to make a strong start as they set their sights on reaching the league phase of Europe’s newest club competition.

Match preview

St Joseph’s looked like strong contenders in the first half of the 2023-24 Gibraltar National League season, leading Lincoln by three points – however, they eventually finished second behind the reigning champions.

Despite that, the Saints managed to lift the Pepe Reyes Cup for just the second time in their history, ensuring they did not end the season empty-handed.

Since early May, though, St Joseph’s have been on a two-month break with no competitive action, which could leave them lacking sharpness, especially against a Cliftonville side that have kept themselves active with a series of friendly matches.

European competition has not been kind to the Gibraltarian club, with all four of their previous appearances having come in the Conference League, and only once have they progressed beyond the first qualifying round, before exiting in the second round that same year.

This will be the first-ever meeting between St Joseph’s and Cliftonville, and both teams will feel this is a winnable tie.

Cliftonville, based in North Belfast, may be a semi-professional outfit, but they boast a proud history, having been crowned champions of Northern Ireland five times, the most recent being in 2013-14.

Last season, the Reds finished seventh in the league but secured European football by winning the play-offs, and they also lifted the League Cup but were beaten by Dungannon on penalties in the Northern Ireland Cup final.

Cliftonville are no strangers to European football either, having featured in the Conference League in three of the last four seasons.

St Joseph's Conference League form:

St Joseph's form (all competitions):

Cliftonville Conference League form:

Cliftonville form (all competitions):

Team News

St Joseph’s have added three new players ahead of the new season, bringing in Will Sanders, Geovanni Barba, and Hassane Amadou on free transfers, while attacking midfielder Alberto Lubango has also rejoined the club on loan from Europa FC.

However, the key man to watch will be Pablo Rodriguez, who is expected to lead the line for the home side.

Cliftonville have made a couple of additions as well, including goalkeeper PJ Morrison, who arrived from Alloa Athletic, and forward Conor Falls from Huddersfield B.

Ryan Curran and Eric McWoods are likely to spearhead the attack, with playmaker Rory Hale operating just behind them in a central role.

St Joseph's possible starting lineup:

Ruiz; Paul, Thomas, Barnett; Alvarez, Juanma, Rey, Manolin, Walker, Pons; Rodriguez Moreno

Cliftonville possible starting lineup:

Ridd; Casey, Eddis, Conlan; Kearney, Gordon, Keeney, Paisold; Hale; McWoods, Kearren

We say: St Joseph's 2-1 Cliftonville

Vikingur head into this clash as slight favourites, benefiting from being in the middle of their domestic season and having shown strong form at home, and their recent run of results suggests a level of consistency that could prove crucial on Tuesday night.

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

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