Santa Clara play host to Varazdin at the Estádio de São Miguel in the second leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round clash on Thursday.

Santa Clara’s dreams of securing a place in the Conference League suffered a blow last Thursday as they were beaten 2-1 by Varazdin in the first leg of the second qualifying round in Croatia.

Prior to that, Matos’ side were on a nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions (6W, 3D), including three wins and one draw from their four pre-season friendly matches.

Santa Clara have returned to the European qualifiers for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign after securing a fifth-placed finish in the Portuguese Primeira Liga table last season.

As for Varazdin, last week’s first-leg display was in keeping with their solid performance in pre-season, where they picked up four wins and one draw from their five warm-up games.

Nikola Safaric’s men’s last defeat came in the 2024-25 Croatian HNL season finale on May 25, when they were beaten 1-0 by Dinamo Zagreb at the Stadion Maksimir.

Varazdin, who secured a first-ever European qualification last season courtesy of a fourth-placed finish in the league, will now look to make it two wins from two in the qualifiers and keep their dreams of making their debut in the UEFA group stages alive.

Santa Clara vs Varazdin Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

• Santa Clara and Varazdin have met just once in the past, which came in last week’s reverse leg, when the Croatian side picked up a 2-1 victory.
• Varazdin are unbeaten in 12 of their most recent 13 matches across all competitions, claiming eight wins and four draws since mid April.
• Santa Clara have lost just one of their last five home matches while picking up three wins and one draw since the start of February.
• Varazdin have failed to win seven of their nine games on the road in 2025, losing four and claiming three draws since the turn of the year.

Santa Clara vs Varazdin Prediction

Santa Clara were left stunned in the first leg and will be looking to overturn their one-goal deficit at the Estádio de São Miguel on Thursday. Matos’ men boast the firepower needed to get the job done and we are tipping them to show their upper hand on home turf.

Prediction: Santa Clara 2-0 Varazdin

Santa Clara vs Varazdin Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Santa Clara to win

Tip 2: More than 4.5 cards – No (There have been fewer than five bookings in Estoril’s last five games)

Tip 3: Over 10.5 corners – No (There have also been fewer than 11 corner kicks in Estoril’s last five outings)