Celje and The New Saints will both have aspirations of sneaking into the Conference League knockout rounds when they face off in Thursday's clash in Slovenia.
The hosts are sitting just outside the top 24 in 25th place, while the visitors will enter the final matchday in 32nd position.
Match preview
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Celje made history when they successfully negotiated a playoff round tie against Pyunik to reach the group stage/league phase of a major UEFA competition for the first time in their history.
However, the Slovenian champions have work to do if they are to extend their European journey beyond the end of the calendar year, having taken just four points from their five league phase matches.
They followed a defeat against Vitoria Guimaraes with a win over Istanbul Basaksehir, before they conceded in stoppage time to lose 2-1 in their away meeting with Spanish side Real Betis.
While they managed to salvage a 3-3 draw against Jagiellonia Bialystok, Celje were unable to take anything from last week's away game against Pafos, falling to a 2-0 defeat to leave them one point outside the qualification places with just one game left to play.
Although a point could be enough to see them through, they will most likely need to end their four-game winless run in all competitions if they are to have a realistic chance of progressing to the knockout rounds.
Like their hosts, The New Saints are competing in the group stage/league phase of a UEFA competition for the first time in their history after getting the better of Panevezys in the playoff round in August.
The Welsh side have struggled to adapt the life in a European main draw, having lost four of their five league phase games, including three consecutive defeats since they beat Astana 2-0 on matchday two.
Craig Harrison's side followed that victory with a 2-1 away defeat against Shamrock Rovers, before they lost to Djurgarden and Panathinaikos without troubling the scorers.
With two points separating them from the top 24, The New Saints know that they need to win in Slovenia and hope a number of results go their way if they are to sneak into the Conference League knockout rounds.
However, their hopes of claiming all three points on Thursday may be tempered by the fact that they have lost three of their previous five away games in all competitions.
Team News
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The Slovenian hosts are expected to be without the services of Armandas Kucys, Nikita Iosifov and Nejc Ajhmajer due to injury.
Midfielder Svit Seslar is likely to return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench to play over half an hour against Pafos last week.
Aljosa Matko is expected to be given the responsibility of leading the line, with the forward hoping to add to his three goal contributions in the league phase.
As for the visitors, they are likely to be without the services of Ashley Barker, who was forced off in the first half against Panathinaikos last week.
With Barker set to miss out, Joshua Daniels could be given the chance to feature in a backline with Harrison McGahey, Josh Pask and Danny Davies.
Declan Davies is in contention to make his fourth start of the league phase, with the striker looking to add to his 10-goal tally, including one strike in the league phase.
Celje possible starting lineup:
Rozman; Juanjo Nieto, Karnicnik, Zec, Nemanic; Seslar, Svetlin, Zabukovnik; Kvesic, Matko, Brnic
The New Saints possible starting lineup:
Roberts; Daniels, McGahey, Pask, Davies; Clark, Williams, Redmond; Holden, Brobbel, Williams
We say: Celje 3-1 The New Saints
Both teams will be desperate to claim all three points as they look to secure a place in the Conference League knockout rounds, and the need for a win should make for an entertaining affair.
While Celje may only have one point more than The New Saints, we think that they will make full use of home advantage to condemn the visitors to a fourth consecutive European defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
