DUNDALK, Shamrock Rovers and Linfield are involved in European action tonight, with difficult tests expected for all three sides in the Uefa Europa Conference League second qualifying round, first leg.
Dundalk will be hoping to build on their 3-1 aggregate victory over Bruno’s Magpies when they travel to Iceland to face KA Akureyri. Stephen O’Donnell’s men claimed a 0-0 draw in the first leg against the Gibraltar side in round one, and finished the job at Oriel Park.
Pat Hoban (below) got them up and running with a goal in the third minute but the game remained in the melting pot until the 83rd, when an Andre Luiz dos Santos own goal made it 3-1 and put the result beyond doubt.
KA Akureyri overcame Welsh side Connah’s Quay 4-0 on aggregate and sit in sixth place in the Besta Deild Karla, having finished second in 2022.
The game kicks off at 7pm and is available to watch on solidsport.com.
Shamrock Rovers are hoping to put the disappointment of their exit from Uefa Champions League qualifying behind them, but they face arguably the toughest of the three opponents in Hungarian Premier Division champions Ferencvaros.
Rovers were defeated 3-1 on aggregate by Icelandic side Breidablik, and will have to raise their game to get through the two legs.
The Hungarians defeated Trabzonspor, Monaco and Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League group stage last season.
The game is in Budapest and kicks off at 6pm Irish time.
Linfield are the only home side of the three and are hoping to build on their 3-2 aggregate win over Albanian side Vllaznia when they host Polish side Pogon Szczecin.
A 3-1 win at Windsor Park, with two goals from Christopher McKee and one from Jack Scott, was enough to see the Premiership runners-up through, as a 1-0 away defeat meant that they were safe.
Pogon finished fourth in the Ekstraklasa last season, but have quality in their side.
The game kicks off at 7.45pm in Belfast and will be shown on Linfield TV.
