Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Conference League clash between Real Betis and Celje, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Real Betis will welcome Slovenian side Celje to the Benito Villamarin for Thursday’s Conference League encounter.
The Spanish side are searching for their first win of the league phase, while Celje are looking to claim a second straight European victory.
Match preview
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Betis are competing in the Conference League main draw after cruising through their playoff round tie against Kryvbas via a 5-0 aggregate scoreline.
However, they have found things much tougher in the league phase, having taken just one point from their opening two games.
Los Verdiblancos fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in their away meeting with Legia Warsaw, before they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against FC Copenhagen, leaving them in 27th position after two rounds of matches.
While they would have been frustrated with the draw against the Danish side, that result has helped Betis put together a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W3, D2).
In their most recent outing, Betis managed to hold Athletic Bilbao to a 1-1 draw at San Mames, ensuring they finished the weekend in seventh place in La Liga and level on 19 points with Los Leones.
Los Verdiblancos will now return to the home comforts of the Benito Villamarin, where they have proven to be a tough team to beat this season, having lost just one of their eight competitive home games (W5, D2).
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After experiencing disappointment in Champions League and Europa League qualifying, Celje went on to secure their place in the Conference League main draw with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Pyunik in the playoff round.
The Slovenian champions have experienced a mixed start to the league phase, having won one and lost one of their opening two matches.
Celje fell to a 3-1 defeat in their away meeting with Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes, before they bounced back with a dominant home win against Turkish Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir.
Tamar Svetlin, Ivan Brnic and Svit Seslar all found the net in the first period, laying the foundation for Armandas Kucys to score a second-half brace to clinch a statement 5-1 victory.
Unfortunately for Celje, they have followed that impressive result with league defeats to Radomlje and Olimpija on either side of a cup win over Hodos.
As a result, Celje are sitting in fourth place and eight points adrift of top spot in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, but they will have to put their faltering title bid on hold, as they turn their focus to Thursday’s trip to Spain, where they will attempt to end a run of four consecutive away defeats in UEFA competition.
Real Betis Conference League form:
Real Betis form (all competitions):
Celje Conference League form:
Celje form (all competitions):
Team News
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Betis are unable to call upon the services of Aitor Ruibal, Giovanni Lo Celso, Isco, William Carvalho and Marc Roca.
Adrian is set to replace Rui Silva between the posts after featuring in Betis’ opening two games of the league phase.
Manuel Pellegrini could make several other changes, with Youssouf Sabaly, Natan, Ricardo Rodriguez and Diao all likely to be considered for starting spots.
As for the visitors, they will be unable to call upon their main centre-forward, with Kucys set to serve a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Kucys’s absence could present Edmilson with the opportunity to make his first European start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Mario Kvesic is expected to make his first appearance of the league phase after missing the first two matches due to suspension.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Adrian; Sabaly, Llorente, Natan, Rodriguez; Fornals, Altimira, Cardoso, Ezzalzouli; Diao, Roque
Celje possible starting lineup:
Rozman; Nieto, Zec, Vuklisevic, Nemanic; Seslar, Svetlin, Kvesic; Matko, Brnic, Edmilson
We say: Real Betis 2-0 Celje
Betis have won five of their last seven competitive matches at the Benito Villamarin, and we think they will make full use of home advantage to clinch all three points, especially as Celje have lost their previous four away games in European competiton.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.