Celje will welcome Flora back to Slovenia on Tuesday, 16 July for the second leg of their Champions League first round qualifying match.
The hosts come into the second leg with qualification all but secured following an emphatic 5-0 victory away in Estonia last week. Therefore, this one may well turn out to be somewhat of a precession.
While Flora were the underdogs last week, they will be gutted that the match panned out the way it did and will be determined to give a better account of themselves in the second leg.
As part of our latest round of Champions League tips, here is our Celje vs Flora prediction.
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Celje v Flora prediction: More of the same
Key stats
- Flora have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions.
- Celje have won five of their last seven home matches in all competitions.
- Five of Celje's last eight matches have seen more than two goals scored.
Correct score prediction: Celje 4-0 Flora
To say last week's fixture was a mismatch would be an understatement. Celje may have scored five goals but it could have been a lot more. They had 32 shots, 18 of which were on target, and missed a penalty. Although they may step off the gas a little here, they should still have enough quality to create more than enough chances to win handsomely again.
Celje vs Flora: UCL history
Celje first played in European competition back in 1993 when they participated in the Cup Winners Cup. This is the second time they have participated in Champions League qualifying after they reached the second round in 2020.
Flora's most impressive achievement in European competition was when they became the first Estonian side to reach the group stages of a competition – the 2021/22 Europa Conference League. Their first appearance in Champions League qualifying came in 1998.
Celje preview: Freshness is key
Unlike their opponents, Celje aren't used to competitive action at present and the first leg last week was their first competitive outing since May. This freshness has clearly worked to their advantage and it should do so again here, providing they don't get overly complacent.
Predicted lineup: Rozman (GK), Karnicnik, Vuklisevic, Zec, Krefl, Svetlin, Zabukovnik, Bobicanec, Matko, Kucys, Menalo
Flora preview: Looking to keep things respectable
Flora's aim going into the second leg will be to keep the aggregate scoreline down after their miserable performance last week. They know they don't possess the quality to defeat Celje and their form domestically hasn't been great.
Predicted lineup: Grunvald (GK), Hussar, Vaher, Tougjas, Veering, Zenjov, Soomets, Kreida, Kuraksin, Lepik, Alliku
Player to watch: Aljosa Matko
Aljosa Matko can count himself unlucky not to have been selected by Slovenia for Euro 2024 given he scored 18 goals in 26 appearances for Celje last season. In his first competitive appearance of the season last week, Makto was at the centre of everything once again – scoring once and missing a penalty in the 5-0 thumping of Flora.
