Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Lazio and Celtic, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Lazio could potentially seal their place in the Champions League knockout rounds with a win in Wednesday’s home fixture against Celtic.
Meanwhile, the Scottish champions are on the verge of an early exit after mustering just one point from their four group matches.
Match preview
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Lazio head into Tuesday’s encounter in a despondent mood after they gave up a half-time lead to lose 2-1 to Salernitana at the weekend, leaving Maurizio Sarri‘s side in 10th place with the rather underwhelming tally of 17 points from 13 Serie A matches.
They looked set to enjoy a successful trip to Salerno when Ciro Immobile dispatched his 43rd-minute spot-kick to become the first player to reach 100 away goals in Serie A.
However, Grigoris Kastanos pulled Salernitana level within 10 minutes of the restart, before former Lazio man Antonio Candreva netted the decisive goal to condemn the Biancocelesti to a sixth league defeat of the season, extending their winless Serie A run to three matches.
While their domestic campaign is proving to be a disappointment, Lazio are on the brink of reaching the knockout rounds of the Champions League after collecting seven points from their four group matches.
Lazio began their group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw against Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, before they claimed victories over Celtic and Feyenoord either side of a defeat to the Dutch champions on matchday three.
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Having won four of their last five competitive home matches (D1), Lazio will be fully aware that if they claim another home victory on Tuesday, they will advance to the last-16 if Feyenoord fail to beat Atletico in the Netherlands.
After failing to win any of their four group games, Celtic’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 2012/13 are hanging by a thread.
They began their European campaign with back-to-back defeats to Feyenoord and Lazio, before taking a point off Atletico Madrid at Celtic Park, however, they were unable to produce another competitive performance in the return leg, as they fell to a heavy 6-0 loss in the Spanish capital.
As a result of their chastening experience against Diego Simeone‘s side, the Bhoys have now gone 14 Champions League group games without a win since beating Anderlecht 3-0 in September 2017.
Celtic, who sit at rock bottom of Group E, require a minor miracle if they are to close the six-point gap to second-placed Lazio, while they will also find it extremely difficult to overturn the five-point difference between themselves and Feyenoord, who currently occupy third spot and a place in the Europa League play-off round.
Despite maintaining their unbeaten league record at the weekend, Celtic will travel to Italy off the back of an underwhelming 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Celtic Park, where David Turnbull thought he had won the game with an 86th-minute penalty, only for Jonathan Obika to equalise in the 90th minute.
While that result may not offer too much inspiration, the Bhoys will certainly have fond memories of their most recent trip to the Stadio Olimpico in November 2019 when goals from James Forrest and Olivier Ntcham guided the Scottish side to a 2-1 win over Lazio in the Europa League group stage.
Lazio Champions League form:
Lazio form (all competitions):
Celtic Champions League form:
Celtic form (all competitions):
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Team News
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Lazio defender Alessio Romagnoli will miss a second straight game with a calf problem, while there are also doubts over the availability of Nicolo Casale due to a muscle injury.
Matias Vecino, who scored in the reverse fixture with Celtic will serve a one-match suspension after picking up three yellow cards in the group stage.
The hosts will have to assess Mattia Zaccagni’s fitness after he picked up a hip issue on Saturday, and if the winger is fit to take part, he will start in a front three alongside Felipe Anderson and Immobile.
As for Celtic, they will be without Reo Hatate (hamstring) and Liel Abada (thigh), while Honduras international Luis Palma will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Daizen Maeda is also suspended for matchday five, but he is also nursing an injury after hurting his knee in the challenge that saw him receive a red card against Atletico Madrid.
After finding the net in four of his last five competitive appearances, Turnbull could be presented with his first start in the Champions League main draw.
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Provedel; Lazzari, Patric, Gila, Marusic; Geundouzi, Cataldi, Alberto; Anderson, Zaccagni, Immobile
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; A. Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; O’Riley, McGregor, Turnbull; Yang, M. Johnston; Furuhashi
We say: Lazio 2-1 Celtic
While Lazio are struggling to produce consistent performance in Serie A, they have fared reasonably well in the Champions League group stage, having lost just one of their four matches, and we think they will claim a narrow victory on Wednesday to prolong Celtic’s poor run of form in European football.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.