FC Lugano vs NK Celje Prediction and Betting Tips | March 13th 2025

FC Lugano and NK Celje square off in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League round-of-16 clash on Thursday. Mattia Croci-Torti’s men suffered a narrow defeat in last week’s reverse leg and will return home looking to overturn their one-goal deficit.

Lugano failed to find their feet last Sunday when they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Sion in their Swiss Super League clash at the Stade Tourbillon.

Croci-Torti’s men have lost five back-to-back matches across all competitions, including a 1-0 defeat against Celje in the first leg of the Conference League round of 16 last week in Slovenia.

This poor run of results has been owing to their toothless display in front of goal as they have failed to find the back of the net in four of their last five matches.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian international Armandas Kučys came up clutch for Celje last time out as he scored in the 93rd minute to hand them a 2-2 draw against ND Primorje in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.

Before that, 23-year-old midfielder Tamar Svetlin netted the only goal of the game to hand Celje a vital 1-0 victory over Lugano in the Conference League last Thursday.

Albert Riera’s men now return to the European third-tier competition, where they finished 21st in the group-stage phase before knocking out APOEL Nicosia 4-2 on aggregate in the playoff round.

FC Lugano vs NK Celje Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

• This will be just the second meeting between Lugano and NK Celje, with the Slovenian side picking up a 1-0 victory when they first met last Thursday.
• Celje are unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches across all competitions, claiming four wins and three draws since mid-February.
• Lugano have lost just one of their five competitive home matches since the turn of the year while picking up two wins and two draws so far.
• Celje have failed to win five of their most recent six away games in all competitions while losing twice and claiming three draws since the start of February.

FC Lugano vs NK Celje Prediction

Having stumbled in last week’s reverse leg, Lugano will be looking to overturn their deficit in front of their home supporters on Thursday. The Swiss outfit head into the crunch tie in poor form, but we predict they will make the most of their home advantage and secure the desired result.

Prediction: FC Lugano 2-0 NK Celje

FC Lugano vs NK Celje Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Lugano to win

Tip 2: Over 2.5 goals - No (There have been fewer than three goals scored in five of Lugano’s last seven matches)

Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - Yes (There have also been five or more bookings in five of the hosts’ last six games)

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