Hearts vs Sturm Graz Live Stream & Predictions – Consolation Win for Hearts in the Champions League

Vedran Ostojic

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Last updated: Sun 26 Jul 2026 18:18

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Vedran Ostojic 26 Jul 2026

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Hearts missed a lot of chances to score last week
We are backing them to earn a consolation win on Tuesday
Watch Hearts vs Sturm Graz live in the UCL Qualifiers

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Hearts have four goal deficit after first leg (Getty)

Hearts had great results in their pre-season friendlies and deserved to score at least two goals last week in Austria. I am backing them to beat Sturm Graz in the reverse tie.

Key Stats
Second H2H
Hearts Deserved More Last Week in Austria
Sturm Off to a Great Start
Team News & Predicted Lineups

Key Stats

Hearts have won their last 8 home matches.
Sturm Graz have lost their last 7 away matches (UCL).

Second H2H

Tuesday’s contest will be the second competitive meeting between Hearts and Sturm Graz.

Hearts Deserved More Last Week in Austria

Hearts had an impressive run in the Premiership last season, losing the title race to Celtic in the final round to finish second. A lot of important players left the club like Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin, as well as head manager Derek McInnes.

Wouter Vrancken had his first official match last week in Austria, suffering a convincing 4-0 loss to Sturm Graz, missing four clear opportunities to score (had 1.96 xG).

Hearts finished their pre-season with two great displays, victories against Arbroath 2-1 and Rayo Vallecano 2-1, while also beating Raith Rovers 1-0 in another friendly last weekend.

Sturm Off to a Great Start

Sturm Graz were the Bundesliga table leaders for the majority of the previous campaign but finished second two points behind the winners LASK Linz.

They built a massive 4-0 advantage in the first tie against Hearts last week, striking through counter-attacks. The Austrian side had just 33% possession, 20-19 shots and 1.97-1.96 xG. Jeyland Mitchell was named man of the match with one goal and one assist.

The Blackies had zero problems last weekend against a lower-division side Seekirchen in the Austrian Cup, claiming another convincing 3-0 victory.

Team News & Predicted Lineups

Hearts (4-2-3-1) Alexander Schwolow; Christian Borchgrevink, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Stuart Findlay, Harry Milne; Tomas Magnusson, Oisin McEntee; Sabah Kerjota, Amadou Ba-Sy, Alexandros Kyziridis; Claudio Braga

Some changes are expected for the home side. Claudio Braga is likely to lead the charge. Defender Craig Halkett is out with Achilles tendon rupture and won't be back for three months.

Sturm Graz (4-4-2) Daniil Khudyakov; Jurgen Heil, Albert Vallci, Jeyland Mitchell, Emran Soglo; Simon Seidl, Jon Gorenc Stankovic, Luca Weinhandl, Ryan Fosso; Szymon Wlodarczyk, Seedy Jatta

Amady Camara won't travel to Scotland due to a thigh injury, while Jacob Hodl is doubtful.

Verdict

Hearts v SK Sturm Graz

Sturm Graz were beaten in their last seven road games in the UCL and didn’t deserve to win the first tie convincingly. I am backing Hearts to win in Scotland.

Hearts Win

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Vedran is a passionate sports enthusiast and covers European football, basketball, volleyball and handball.

With a particular love for the English Premier League, he's been writing about sports online for more than a decade since completing a degree in literature and sports journalism.

The primary areas of focus include top European football leagues (mainly EPL, La Liga, Serie A & Bundesliga), basketball (EuroLeague, NBA & WNBA), Handball and Volleyball.

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