Heart of Midlothian go into Thursday’s Conference League tie knowing that a win will put one foot in the knockout stage.

The new format means that seven points should be enough to qualify and after the opening-day victory in the competition over Dinamo Minsk, it is Omonia Nicosia next up at Tynecastle Park.

Hearts go into the game after Neil Critchley got off to a flyer as head coach with a 4-0 win over St Mirren.

But what of Thursday’s opponents? The Cypriot outfit are currently sixth after losing their last two league matches and failing to score in both – most recently at home to lowly Enosis Neon Paralimni.

It led to an apology to the fans from Lithuanian manager Valdas Dambrauskas who is now preparing his side for their visit to Edinburgh.

Omonia are also in with a great chance of progressing beyond the league phase after they defeated Vikingur Reykjavik 4-0 at home to kick-off their Conference League campaign.

They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and the game wasn’t nearly as one sided as the scoreline would suggest. Vikingur had chances in the first half and forced a Craig Gordon-esque save from Omonia keeper Fabiano.

The following race chart shows that the game was a lot tighter in terms of chances created until three goals from two Omonia substitutes in the final 10 minutes.

The match was even in terms of chances created until Omonia's three late goalsThe match was even in terms of chances created until Omonia's three late goals (Image: StatsBomb) Their opener came from a set piece and two of the other three were courtesy of comical defending from the Icelanders.

In Conference League qualifying, Omonia lost 1-0 away to Zira but the tie was over before they arrived in Azerbaijan for the second leg after a 6-0 win at home. Before that they were comfortable over two legs versus Georgian side Torpedo Kutaisi and eased past Fehevar of Hungary 3-0 on aggregate.

How Neil Critchley sets Hearts up is still anyone’s guess. The 4-4-2 brought success against St Mirren but, with three games in eight days, rotation will be required. Further, both the Omonia game and the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road will be completely different animals to Saturday’s first league win of the season.

The Cypriots will likely line up with a back four on Thursday night, probably in a 4-2-3-1 once again. Their double pivot of Bosnian Mateo Maric and Montenegrin Novica Erakovic will look to control the game and there is a choice of No 10.

According to Stel from the YouTube show No Choftes that covers Omonia, there are two options.

“It's difficult to say because there are so many permutations to this and it mostly focuses on the three that we have in midfield,” he told Hearts Standard.

“If he goes with, for example, Mateo Maric, Novica Erakovic, and Chambo [Charalampos Charalampous] in the three, so Chambo will be a 10, they alternate positions. It's almost as if one will stay and two will go and they take it in turns.

“Whereas if he goes with Ioannis Kousoulos, who I think he's finished, to be honest, Kousoulos and Maric or Erakovic, it kind of makes us very unbalanced and there isn't any support for the wide players either. But then it also depends on who goes as the 10.

"If Chambo plays as the 10, we know that we've got a box-to-box player that can go and attack and go and defend.”

Width if provided by attacking full-backs although Stel thinks that part of the reason a 4-2-3-1 will be used is so the wingers can get back to support them defensively.

They have the talent to hurt Hearts – their early season form shows that, as does some impressive results in Europe over the years.

Though there is a glaring weakness that Hearts could exploit.

“We've got talented players and when they click, the football is sublime,” said Stel. “But the problem is we're on this downward trajectory at the moment and I'm really, really worried about Thursday because when we play against teams that are very quick on the ball and press high, we can't cope.

“The energy and the stamina levels from the Scottish Premiership to the Cypriot League are different. Granted, we've got a lot of internationals in our squad, but it's another level. It's another level up in the Premiership.”

A win for Hearts would see them "all but qualify", according Scotland's Coefficient on X, and progression means European knockout football after Christmas.

The Jambos have already increased their chances of qualification from 33% to around 60% with that opening-day win over Minsk in Azerbaijan.