Shamrock Rovers vs Celje prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-10-22 19:00.
[p]After a heavy defeat on matchday one, Shamrock Rovers are looking to inject some life into their UEFA Conference League campaign against a Celje side who made the perfect start.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Shamrock Rovers were thrashed 4-1 by Sparta Prague on matchday one, and have since lost both of their domestic league matches by a 1-0 scoreline. Manager Stephen Bradley will be keen to arrest their recent slide with a positive result here, and belief should remain as Rovers responded to failure to win their opening game in this competition last term by going four Conference League games unbeaten (W3, D1) en route to a tenth-placed finish. The Hoops have also lost just one of their last 17 home matches (W12, D4), albeit they were held scoreless in two of their three European games on their own turf this season (W1, D2).[/p]
[p]Slovenian side Celje arrive in Dublin in a rich vein of form, with their 11-match unbeaten streak across all competitions (W9, D2) helping them to an incredible 11-point lead at the top of their domestic league after just 12 rounds! The Counts also displayed their European pedigree by beating AEK Athens 3-1 on matchday one, a result which could inspire hope that they can match last term’s heroics when they went all the way to the quarter-finals. An eight-match unbeaten away run feeds into that (W7, D1), but Celje lost all three trips in last season’s league phase, conceding 2+ goals each time.[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]These sides met in Europa League qualifying last season, with Shamrock Rovers prevailing 3-2 on aggregate. Both legs were won by the home side on the day.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]None of Shamrock Rovers’ last five European home games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]Only Shkëndija (0.02) posted a lower xG on matchday one than Shamrock Rovers (0.09).[/p]
[p]Celje have scored 29 goals across their last eight away games.[/p]
[p]Nine of Celje’s last 12 European games produced over 2.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Graham Burke scored a brace in Rovers’ latest win, with each of his last four goals coming before half-time, including three match openers. Franko Kovačević scored a hat-trick on matchday one, and despite blanking in his two games since, the Celje striker has netted nine times across his last seven games.[/p]
[p]Shamrock’s Josh Honohan has missed their last two matches, while Celje are without Mark Zabukovnik.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Form only points to one winner here, so backing a Celje handicap victory could provide nice returns.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]