Celje vs TNS Prediction & Betting Tips (19 December)

Celje does not really have his destiny in his hands since even in the event of victory, he will be eliminated from the competition if all his direct competitors win this Thursday. The Slovenes are 25th in the league phase, one point behind 24th, who will be the last to qualify for the play-offs. They only won one small meeting in C4, against the Turks of Basaksehir 5-1. Last week, they lost at Pafos 2-0 on the heels of their prolific draw against Poles Jagiellonia 3-3 and a defeat against Betis 2-1. In the championship, Celje is 4th, 8 points behind the leader: Olimpija Ljubljana. Their last matches in the elite ended in draws against Nafta 0-0 and Domzale 2-2 in early December. From now on, we must take into account the winter break which establishes a break in the championship until February.

The Welsh team of The New Saints must face an almost unthinkable scenario to reach the play-off phase since with its 3 small points , it is imperative that they win to temporarily enter the top 24 but hope that Basaksehir and Hearts do not take points at the same time. Before thinking about the others, the visitors will have to win away, which seems difficult since they lost at Fiorentina 2-0 and at Shamrock Rovers 2-1 in the competition. Last week, it was the Greeks of Panathinaikos who had the luxury of taking points from them in a 0-2 defeat. Since then, TNS won their round of 16 match in the Welsh FA Cup against Colwyn Bay 4-1 on Sunday. In the championship, the Green and White are runners-up and should play the final phase.

In the Celje squad, the Lithuanian offensive Kucys (6 goals in the league), injured for several weeks, should still withdraw when the injured defender Ajhmajer, the left back Kavcic, the central Bralic, the midfielders Pisek and Eguaras or still the long-term absentee Iosifov are not qualified to play in the league phase. The young French midfielder Clément Lhernault (1 assist in the championship) will be available to the coach but has substitute status. The prolific Seslar, Kvesic and Brnic, authors of 4 goals each in the league, are serious assets for Celje in the offensive sector. Opposite, the right back Baker, started last Thursday, was injured against Panathinaikos. Absent this weekend on the national scene, he could forfeit against Celje.

He thus joined Astles, absent for a very long time in the infirmary. The crucial Oteh (6 goals in the league) is not qualified to play this phase of the league. The Welsh club will mainly rely on Bradley and McManus, authors of 6 goals and 4 achievements in the championship. However, the first city does not play much in the Conference League and has not yet scored in this campaign.