Celje vs Basaksehir prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-10-23 16:45.
[p]Celje certainly brought the entertainment at the weekend, beating Mura 4-3 despite trailing 2-0 at the hour mark to keep them firmly in the Prva Liga title race. They won their domestic league last season by a whopping 12 points and even after failed tilts at qualifying for the Champions and Europa League, they still managed the consolation prize of a spot in the UEFA Conference League’s inaugural league phase – their first-ever major European competition jaunt. [/p]
[p]Their European journey got off to a rocky start on matchday one when they were beaten 3-1 by Vitória Guimarães, but they’ll hope for a much better outcome at home, where they boast a four match winning streak. The Slovenian champions have been similarly formidable on home soil in Europe too, as they are unbeaten in six such matches (W4, D2) which should boost belief they can get off the mark here against İstanbul Başakşehir.[/p]
[p]The Turkish club are winless themselves after the opening round of Conference League action after they went down 2-1 at home to Rapid Vienna. That result sparked a bit of a downward trend for Başakşehir, who are now winless in three games in all competitions (D1, L2), most recently going down 1-0 to Trabzonspor over the weekend.[/p]
[p]Başakşehir should feel confident of snapping that trend on the road, where they’re unbeaten in six European matches (W3, D3). The most impressive aspect of that run is that five of those games saw them shut out their opponent, so as they now take on Slovenian opposition for the first time ever, they ought to feel confident of maintaining their proud Conference League away record (W6, D3, L1). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Celje’s Armandas Kučys is the joint-top scorer in the Slovenian Prva Liga, and although his last two goals have been equalisers, the fact his last 11 scoring club appearances ended in victory suggests a goal from him is a good omen. Başakşehir’s João Figueiredo certainly has a preferred time for scoring goals, with nine of his last ten for the club arriving between the 25th and 55th minutes. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Celje have scored 2+ goals in seven of their last eight games. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Chris Wilson[/i][/p]