UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round Preview and Odds – Celtic vs Rosenborg

July 26, 2017 19:45pm

Celtic Park

Recent form (All competitions)

Celtic: WLWWD

Rosenborg: WWDWD

Celtic will look to take another step towards Champions League qualification when they take on Norwegian Champions Rosenborg in Glasgow on Wednesday night. The Scottish Premier League champions crushed Belfast side 6-0 on aggregate to book their place in the 3rd qualifying round but could find their opponents a little tougher to beat this time out.

Brendan Rodgers will be keen to make the most of home advantage by taking a decent lead to Trondheim for the second leg in a week’s time. Despite the potential pitfalls of this tie, the Scottish club will start as clear favourites to progress.

The Bhoys are likely to take their usual attacking approach to this game as they attempt to put the tie beyond their opponents in the first 90 minutes. However, they come into this game on the back of a 0-4 friendly home defeat to French side Lyon. In their defence, Rodgers took an experimental approach to that game, giving game time to several youngsters including Sam Wardrop, Kerr McInroy, Calvin Miller, Jack Aitchison and Regan Hendry.

Celtic have not lost a competitive match since falling 2-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League last November, and they have scored in every game they have played since then.

Rosenborg may not be a big name in European football but the champions of Norway will be no pushovers. They needed extra-time to overcome Dundalk in the last round and will be looking to build on that performance this time round. Their main problem will be keeping clean sheets, something they have failed to do on a regular basis in recent games.

Kare Ingebrigtsen’s men will set their sights on getting at least one away goal to give themselves a fighting chance in the second leg. Celtic have actually conceded at least one goal at home in five of their last six Champions League matches.

Prediction

With Celtic pushing forward and Rosenborg looking to pounce on the counter-attack, this should be an exciting game with a decent goal count. As a result, the Over 2.5 Goals wager looks like a tempting proposition.

Back Over 2.5 Goals at 3/4 with Betfair.

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