Celje host Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday, October 22, 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 19:00 local time at Stadion Z'dežele. The teams arrive with contrasting records: Celje are 35th in the competition rankings and have lost both of their Europa League matches without scoring, while Salzburg are 21st. The visitors also bring a stronger recent away record, but Celje will be looking to turn their home fixture into a first positive result in the league phase. Recent results give this match a clear question: can the hosts find the goal that has eluded them in Europe, or will Salzburg make their greater attacking output count?

Celje's Recent Form and Key Stats

Celje were held to a 0-0 draw by Maribor on October 18. That result left them with just one win in their last seven matches, alongside two draws and four defeats. Scoring has been the main difficulty: they have failed to find the net in five of those seven fixtures. Across their most recent five games, Celje have recorded one win, two draws and two losses, averaging only 0.2 goals scored and 1.0 conceded per match.

Their Europa League results show why a response in front of goal matters. Celje lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen and 3-0 to Omonia, leaving them with no points, no goals scored and an average of 2.5 goals conceded per match in the competition. They have also trailed at half-time in their last three Europa League matches. Although the goalless draw with Maribor stopped their opponents from scoring, it did not resolve Celje's own attacking problem.

Home form offers another concern for the Counts, who have lost three of their last four matches at Stadion Z'dežele. Their task against Salzburg is therefore twofold: improve on a run of European games without a goal and avoid falling behind early once again. Celje have had just one win across their last five fixtures, so a stronger home performance would represent a notable change from their recent results.

Salzburg's Recent Form and Key Stats

Salzburg come into the fixture after a 3-0 win over Rheindorf Altach on October 18. It was their first victory in three games, following a draw and a defeat, and provided a response to a spell that included a 4-0 loss to AC Milan. Their last five matches have produced two wins, one draw and two defeats, with averages of 1.4 goals scored and 1.2 conceded per game.

The visitors have already shown they can secure a result away from home in this competition, beating Levski Sofia 1-0 on the road. Their broader travel record is also encouraging: Salzburg have won four of their last six away matches and drawn the other two. That unbeaten six-game stretch gives them a different recent away profile from Celje's home run, even if the defeat to AC Milan shows their results have not been uniformly strong.

Salzburg's Europa League season figures list four wins, one draw and one loss, with averages of 1.5 goals scored and 1.2 conceded. There is also a consistent second-half trend in their matches: at least one goal has been scored after the break in 23 of their last 25 fixtures. That figure refers to total goals by either team, rather than goals scored by Salzburg alone, but it underlines how often their games have featured second-half scoring.

Celje vs Salzburg Match Analysis

The sharpest contrast in this Europa League preview is between Celje's difficulty scoring and Salzburg's away results. The hosts have yet to score in the competition and have averaged 0.2 goals across their last five matches overall. Salzburg, meanwhile, have won four of their last six trips, including the 1-0 victory over Levski Sofia. If those patterns continue, Celje may need to do more than simply keep the game close: they must also create a breakthrough that has been missing from their recent results.

Celje's goalless draw with Maribor suggests they can keep a clean sheet, but their two Europa League defeats provide a tougher measure of the challenge. Both ended without a Celje goal, and the team conceded five times across those games. Salzburg's 3-0 win over Rheindorf Altach offers a more positive immediate result for the visitors, although their own recent five-match record includes two losses. The evidence points to a Salzburg advantage without making the outcome certain.

The supplied win probabilities reflect that balance, assigning Celje a 23% chance, a draw 21% and Salzburg 56%. Those figures align with the visitors' stronger away run and Celje's scoreless start in Europe. For the home side, scoring for the first time in the league phase would change the shape of this contest; for Salzburg, another effective away performance would build on a travel record that has brought four wins and two draws from six matches.

Celje vs Salzburg prediction from BetMines: Salzburg win (2) with 56% probability.