Opta predicts how Hearts will fare in Conference League campaign
Hearts do not qualify from the Conference League’s league phase in Opta’s latest predictions for the competition.
The Edinburgh club reached the league stage of Europe’s third-rate competition in dramatic fashion last month as they beat Rapid Wien on penalties after the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate.
As a result, they became only one of two Scottish sides to qualify for Europe this season after Celtic, with Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian all losing in their Conference League playoff ties.
However, despite the Jambos’ impressive form this campaign, they are not predicted to do well in the competition.
Much like their last adventure in the Conference League, Hearts are expected to narrowly miss out on the knockout playoff phase.
The supercomputer does not rate the Jam Tarts’ chances ahead of their opening match in the competition at home to FC Nordsjaelland next month.
Hearts predicted to exit in Conference League’s league phase
Opta on 7 September has predicted Hearts to finish 29th in the Conference League table.
This is five places short of 24th, the minimum finish needed to qualify for the knockout playoff phase.
Hearts’ chances of reaching this round are currently at 42.32 per cent, while the odds of progression into the round of 16 sit at 6.02 per cent.
The Jambos have a 6.24 per cent chance of reaching the quarter-finals and a 1.65 per cent chance of reaching the semi-finals.
The odds of a surprise appearance in the final sit at 0.48 per cent, while the odds of Hearts going all the way and lifting the trophy sit at 0.12 per cent.
How many points do you need to reach the Conference League knockout playoff stage?
Since the league phase was introduced for European competitions, seven points have been enough to qualify for the knockout playoff phase, as long as the club has a good goal difference.
In the 2024-25 campaign, Hearts managed to hit seven points in the competition, but were knocked out on goals for.
Therefore, eight points should be the Jambos’ target if they want to qualify, as this has been enough to reach the next stage every time, regardless of the goal difference.
However, it remains to be seen if Hearts are able to achieve this feat this season.