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

Best bets

Derry City to qualify v Tobol Kostanay
7.45pm Thursday
1pt 11-8 bet365

Over 3.5 AZ Alkmaar goals v Santa Coloma
7.45pm Thursday
2pts Evs Betfair

Europa Conference League qualifying predictions

Jordan Obita's 90th-minute goal gave Hibernian a handy 3-1 first-leg lead in their Europa Conference League tie against Luzern and if Hibs can finish the job in Switzerland they will advance to a playoff against Aston Villa.

Edinburgh rivals Hearts have a 2-1 deficit to overturn when they host Rosenborg and Derry City are also a goal down after the away leg of their tie against Tobol Kostanay of Kazakhstan.

The Candystripes put in a decent performance against Tobol last week, despite a poor playing surface, and the hosts needed a stunning long-range strike from defender Roman Arsankulov midway through the second half to break down Derry.

Winger Michael Duffy missed a good chance to equalise, hitting the side netting from close range, but Derry are worth backing to turn the tie around at Tallaght Stadium.

They warmed up for the second leg with a 3-0 League of Ireland win over Drogheda and manager Ruaidhri Higgins knows he has the attacking players to trouble Tobol, having beaten Finnish foes KuPS 5-4 on aggregate in the previous round.

AZ Alkmaar were restricted to a 1-0 first-leg win against Andorra's Santa Coloma but the Eredivisie side should rack up the goals in the return leg.

AZ looked understandably rusty in their first competitive fixture of the new season, scoring with their only shot on target, but they kicked off their Eredivisie campaign in fine style with a 5-1 home rout of Go Ahead Eagles.

Five different players were on the scoresheet including former Dutch international Jordy Clasie, who struck in the fourth minute, and AZ's attacking players should add to their goal tally in the Conference League.

Santa Coloma lost 2-0 in the away leg of their previous qualifying tie against Sutjeska of Montenegro and may struggle to keep the scoreline respectable in the Netherlands.

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport