NK Celje

vs

FC Drita Gjilan

Preview

Celje

• NK Celje have an advantage in their UEFA Conference League first-leg knockout fixture with FC Drita after Matej Poplatnik’s stoppage-time header gave them a 3-2 away win in Prishtina last Thursday.
• The Slovenian PrvaLiga leaders, who have 44 points from 19 games in the PrvaLiga, now take a vital away goal into the second-leg and will be full of optimism about making it through to the Conference League Round of 16.
• Celje have scored 11 goals in their last three games in all competitions.

Drita

• Drita, who remain inside the top four of the Kosovo Superliga after a recent cup exit and some league wins, will have learned a lot from their home defeat to Celje, in which they conceded in stoppage time to lose 2-3.
• Zekirija Ramadani always sets up his sides to defend deep and react to the ball.
• His men will defend in numbers and try to counter-attack quickly.
• Arb Manaj will be the man Drita look to create and put the ball into the box for, as he did in their first-leg defeat when Liridon Balaj and Blerim Krasniqi both scored.
• Balaj and Krasniqi are both vital to Drita’s ability to hurt Celje in transition, while Egzon Bejtulai and Raddy Ovouka will be vital in shoring up a defence missing Blerton Sheji through suspension.

Celje

• Nikita Iosifov has been a revelation in the central areas, with a number of goals and his ability to rotate with others in the 4-3-3 formation to create and finish attacks.
• Franko Kovačević is the main focal point of their attack, but Poplatnik, who is always a threat to the goal in the late stages of games, is capable of the game-changing contribution he made last week.

Drita

• Arb Manaj will be the man Drita look to create and put the ball into the box for, as he did in their first-leg defeat when Liridon Balaj and Blerim Krasniqi both scored.
• Balaj and Krasniqi are both vital to Drita’s ability to hurt Celje in transition, while Egzon Bejtulai and Raddy Ovouka will be vital in shoring up a defence missing Blerton Sheji through suspension.

Betting Insights

• We can’t get much value from Celje at 1.26 on the odds, while Drita are 9.5 to take the tie, which is also too short.
• We’d rather take over 2.5 goals in the game at 1.55 for a repeat of what was a high-scoring, open game between two teams with completely different styles.
• Celje are in the ascendency right now, while Drita have shown some defensive sloppiness of late.

Prediction

• However, all the factors, including Celje’s aggregate lead, their superior squad depth, and the fact this is their first-ever competitive meeting, point to the Slovenians advancing to the Round of 16.
• A Celje win will see them through and they will surely take the route of attacking to overwhelm their opponents on Thursday.