NK Celje vs. Celtic - Match Preview

Thursday 30th June 2016

Kick-off: 18:45

Arena Petrol

Celtic TV​

The waiting is over, and after 45 days without them, Celtic finally return to action this Thursday evening against NK Celje of Slovenia. Our last meeting with Slovenian opposition is one most would rather forget, but with the positivity surrounding the club at the moment, Celtic fans will be expecting a better result this time around.



Celtic

Thursday's game not only signals the end of our close season, but also the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Celtic's history as Brendan Rodgers takes his place in the dugout for the first time as manager of the Hoops.

While history has taught us not to place too much importance on pre-season performances, with the Champions League Qualifiers fast approaching, the manager will surely wanting to begin his reign in winning fashion.



The Celtic squad training ahead of Thursday's friendly


In regards to potential lineups, seeing as it's both a pre-season friendly and our manager's first game in charge, expect a lot of experimentation. Mikael Lustig was the only player in the squad with international commitments this month, when he represented Sweden in the Euro's, so the majority of the squad will be will rested and raring to go.

Two players to look out for are Leigh Griffiths, who will be hoping to replicate his form of the 2015/16 season which saw him net 40 goals, and new signing Moussa Dembele. The highly rated 19 year old joined Celtic on Tuesday on a free transfer, after scoring an impressive 17 goals in his previous season with Fulham in the English Championship.

However, one player who sadly won't be involved in any capacity is Croatian defender Jozo Simunovic, who is still recovering from knee surgery.



NK Celje

But what of their opponents, NK Celje?

Well, the Slovenian side are based in the town of Celje, and play in the Arena Petrol stadium that has a capacity of 15,000. They managed a 5th place finish in the Slovenian PrvaLiga last season, missing out on a Europa League spot in the process. However, the Celje players will undoubtedly be keen to put that disappointment behind them, and a victory against Celtic would certainly help with that process.


Celje manager Robert Pevnik also enjoyed a spell at the club as a player from 1992-1994


Perhaps the most worrying problem for Celje is the lack of prolific goal scorers in their squad. 34 year old Ivan Firer was their top goal scorer last season, with a modest six goals, but was sold in January to Tanah Hoa of Vietnam (who he has since left for fellow Vietnamese side Becamex Bình Dương). This means that Celje may have to rely on their young Croatian centre-mid, Marko Pajac, who was their second highest goal scorer, netting three times for the Slovenian side.

Defensively, they're also a bit of a mixed bag. Whilst they did manage to keep a respectable 11 clean sheets throughout their domestic season, they were also on the receiving end of some heavy defeats, most notably at the hands of NK Olimpija who beat them 4-0 & 6-0 at two of their four meetings (the other two matches being a 0-0 draw and a 3-1 defeat).


Last Six Games:

Celtic - WLWWDW

NK Celje - WDLDDL