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Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Conference League clash between Celje and Istanbul Basaksehir, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Turkish Super Lig side Istanbul Basaksehir will travel to Slovenia for Thursday’s Conference League clash with Celje.
Istanbul Basaksehir and Celje are both searching for their first points of the league phase after failing to take anything from their opening games against Rapid Vienna and Vitoria Guimaraes respectively.
Match preview
Celje started their European campaign in Champions League qualifying, before dropping down to the Europa League and then the Conference League playoff round.
The Slovenian champions were then at risk of missing out on a main draw appearance after losing 1-0 in the first league of their playoff round tie against Pyunik.
However, they ultimately made home advantage count to claim a 4-1 second-leg victory to seal their spot in the league phase.
Unfortunately for Celje, they began their main draw with a disappointing result against Guimaraes, with Aljosa Matko scoring a late consolation in a 3-1 away defeat against the Portuguese side.
Celje have since bounced back from that result to claim consecutive league victories, beating Maribor 2-1 before coming from two goals down to clinch a 4-3 victory against Mura at the weekend.
They will now turn their focus to Thursday’s fixture, and they will hope their firepower can make the difference after scoring at least two goals in seven of their last eight competitive matches.
After missing out on European football in 2023-24, Istanbul Basaksehir are back competing in UEFA competitions thanks to last season’s fourth-place finish in the Turkish Super Lig.
Cagdas Atan‘s side ousted La Fiorita and Iberia 1999 in qualifying, before they recorded a 2-0 aggregate victory in their playoff round clash against St Patrick’s Athletic to seal their place in the main draw.
They may have recorded a couple of clean sheets against St Patrick’s, but they could not stop Rapid Vienna from netting two goals in their opening match of the league phase.
Louis Schaub scored either side of a Krzysztof Piatek equaliser to fire the Austrian side to a 2-1 win and condemn Istanbul Basaksehir to their first home defeat of the season.
Unfortunately for the Turkish side, they followed that result with a draw against Kayserispor and a narrow loss to Trabzonspor, ensuring they will carry a three-game winless run into Thursday’s away fixture.
The visitors may still fancy their chances of taking something from Thursday’s trip, having won six, drawn three and lost just one of their previous 10 Conference League away matches (including qualifying).
Celje Conference League form:
Celje form (all competitions):
Istanbul Basaksehir Conference League form:
Istanbul Basaksehir form (all competitions):
Team News
Celje are unable to call upon right-back Zak Karnicnik, who has been out since the start of September with an injury issue.
Midfielder Mario Kvesic will be available for selection after he missed the defeat to Guimaraes through suspension.
With Inigo Eguaraes ineligible to feature, Marco Dulca could be brought into midfield to make his fifth European start of the season.
As for the visitors, Leonardo Duarte and Omer Sahiner returned from injury to play the full duration of the defeat to Trabzonspor.
Forward Serdar Guler will have to be assessed after he was forced in the first half of Saturday’s league outing.
Piatek will look to continue his impressive form, having scored 10 goals in 15 matches this season, including five goals in seven European appearances.
Celje possible starting lineup:
Rozman; Zec, Vuklisevic, Nemanic, Kavcic; Kvesic, , Bobicanec; Seslar, Matko, Edmilson
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Sengezer; Duarte, Ba, Opoku, Sahiner; Kemen, Ozdemir, Crespo; Turuc, Davidson, Piatek
We say: Celje 1-1 Istanbul Basaksehir
Istanbul Basaksehir may be in a downbeat mood after failing to win any of their last three matches, and while we think that run may continue, we do believe they will do enough to take a point, especially as they have lost just one of their previous 10 away games in the Conference League (including qualifying).
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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