Thursday's Europa League & Conference League predictions and free football tips

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Thursday's Europa League and Europa Conference League matches.

Where to watch

Istanbul Basaksehir v Fiorentina
BT Sport 4, 8pm Thursday

Best bets

Braga to beat Union Berlin 8pm
2pts 5-4 Betfred

Istanbul Basaksehir to win to nil v Fiorentina 8pm
1pt 15-4 BoyleSports

Match previews

There were mixed fortunes for Portuguese clubs in the Champions League on Tuesday but in-form Braga should make the most of home advantage in their Europa League clash with surprise Bundesliga pacesetters Union Berlin.

While Sporting scored two late goals to upset Tottenham, Porto suffered a shock 4-0 home defeat to 6-1 underdogs Club Brugge, and Braga are above both of those big guns in the Primeira Liga standings this term.

They have won all five of their league matches since an opening 3-3 draw with Sporting, scoring 18 goals and conceding just twice during that run.

Braga racked up another win to nil on matchday one of the Europa League, beating Malmo 2-0 in Sweden, while Union Berlin suffered a surprise 1-0 home loss to Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium.

Union are top of the Bundesliga after six games but they had to work hard for a 1-0 win at Cologne last weekend and may struggle against a Braga side whose defensive and attacking units look in excellent shape.

Another team keeping plenty of clean sheets this season are Istanbul Basaksehir, who are a tempting price to win to nil against misfiring Fiorentina.

The Turks began their Europa Conference League campaign with a 4-0 away victory over Hearts and beat Besiktas 1-0 in their last Super Lig fixture, stretching their unbeaten run this season to 12 matches in all competitions.

Basaksehir have conceded only four goals in a dozen outings and their backline has little to fear from a Fiorentina side who were held to a 1-1 draw by Group A outsiders Rigas FS on matchday one.

La Viola needed an injury-time winner to see off Cremonese 3-2 in their Serie A opener but they have scored only two goals in five league matches since then and are unlikely to turn on the style in Istanbul.

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