Preview: Celje vs Red Bull Salzburg - prediction, team news, lineups

Red Bull Salzburg will head on their travels for Thursday's Europa League clash against Celje at the Stadion Z'dezele.

The Austrian visitors occupy 21st place in the league phase, while the Slovenian champions are down in 35th spot after starting with back-to-back defeats.

Match preview

After losing to Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League playoff round, Celje have experienced a difficult start to their first appearance in a Europa League league phase/group stage, having failed to trouble the scorers in their first two matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Omonia.

A 2-0 defeat in Germany and a 3-0 home loss against Omonia have formed part of Zoran Zeljkovic's underwhelming start to life as Celje boss.

While he has overseen clean sheets in his first three league games, his team have failed to score in four of his opening five competitive matches (W1, D2, L2), including a stalemate in Sunday's away clash with leaders Maribor.

That result has left Celje in sixth place in the Prva Liga and eight points adrift of the summit, leaving them with plenty of work to do if they are to retain their league crown.

Rather than the title race, their current focus will be on Thursday's Europa League fixture, where they will attempt to end their four-game winless run in European competition.

That will be easier said than done for a team that has won just one of their previous four home matches in all competitions (L3).

Salzburg are competing in the Europa League main draw for a second consecutive season after settling for a third-place finish in Austrian Bundesliga last term.

They will be desperate to better last term's disappointing league phase campaign, which saw them finish in 31st place after losing six of their eight matches.

Danny Rohl's side are already one win away from equalling last season's six-point tally after claiming a 1-0 victory over Bulgarian outfit Levski Sofia on matchday one.

However, they were given a brutal reality check in last week's home clash against Italian giants AC Milan, as they fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat following an Alphadjo Cissa hat-trick and a Goncalo Ramos effort.

Salzburg at least managed to return to winning ways in Sunday's league clash against Altach, with Haris Tabakovic, Jesper Lindstrom and Damir Redzic all scoring in a 3-0 victory to keep their side within three points of leaders Rapid Vienna.

They will now head to Slovenia with hopes of maintaining their unbeaten away record, having won five and drawn four of their nine competitive matches on their travels, including clean sheets in five of their last six away assignments.

Celje Europa League form:

Celje form (all competitions):

Red Bull Salzburg Europa League form:

Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):

Team News

Celje midfielder remains sidelined with a knee injury he sustained during a loan spell with Polish side Stal Mielec earlier this year.

Right-back Pijus Sirvys is pushing for a starting spot after returning from injury as a late substitute in Sunday's draw against Maribor.

Striker Blaz Kramer could return to lead the line after dropping down to the bench at the weekend.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Nikolas Veratschnig, Justin Omoregie and Enrique Aguilar due to injury.

Salzburg will also need to assess forward Karim Konate, who has missed the last two matches with illness.

Redzic is pushing for a starting spot after coming off the bench to net in Sunday's win over Altach, while there could be a recall for Sota Kitano.

Celje possible starting lineup:

Leban; Sirvys, Bejger, Tutyskinas, Avdyli; Kvesic, Zabukovnik; Dukuly, Seslar, Verbic; Kramer

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Zawieschitzky; Morgalla, Boma, Zabransky, Schmid; Barry, Mazurek; Redzic, Kitano, Lindstrom; Tabakovic

We say: Celje 1-2 Red Bull Salzburg

Salzburg head to Slovenia with an unbeaten away record this season, and we think they will enjoy more success on their travels against a Celje side who may be low on belief are losing their first two matches in the league phase.

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