Celje and Omonia Nicosia meet at Matchday 2 of the UEFA Europa League league stage on Thursday, 15 October, with kick-off at 16:45 UTC. The two sides sit three points apart in a table of 34 teams after a single round of matches apiece.
Celje find themselves in 31st place in the bottom third of the table, having lost their opening match 2-0 without scoring. They carry a run of two consecutive defeats into the match, and across their last five results they have taken four points.
Omonia Nicosia arrive in 16th place, mid-table, on the back of a 1-0 win in their opening league stage fixture. The Cypriot side are on a run of two consecutive wins and have accumulated ten points from their last five matches.
The recent form picture is stark in Omonia Nicosia's favour. Their last five results include victories over Celta Vigo and St. Truiden, as well as a win over Lincoln Red Imps FC and a draw with the same opponents. Celje's equivalent run includes a win over Ararat-Armenia and a draw with Slovan Bratislava, though they also suffered a 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their most recent outing.
With Celje on zero points and Omonia Nicosia on three, the three-point gap between the sides underlines the differing starts each team has made to the league stage. Both sides are only one match in, in a competition format spanning 34 teams, and this fixture represents an early opportunity to shape their respective positions in the table.