Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic get their European adventure underway with a tricky looking opening tie against Paris Saint-Germain. PSG’s lavish spending has been well documented and they look to have one of the most potent strike forces in world football – spearheaded by Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. On paper, Celtic’s squad pales into insignificance against the Parisian outfits’ line-up but Celtic are notorious for their European miracles and their fans will be praying for another one on Tuesday.
UEFA Champions’ League Group Stage – Group B – Celtic vs Paris Saint-Germain – Celtic Park.
Tuesday 12th September
Kick-off: 19.45 GMT
Celtic – Best Odds – 12/1 (Sky Bet)
PSG – Best Odds – 1/4 (Bet 365)
Draw – Best Odds – 6/1 (Bet Victor)
Celtic
The importance of European football at Celtic is huge and following an invincible season domestically last term, they will be keen to show the world just how good they are against a team containing the two most expensive footballers of all time. The Hoops remain unbeaten domestically and sit top of the Scottish Premier League. Their comfortable 4-1 victory at Hamilton on Friday night gave Brendan Rodgers an opportunity to use some of his swaud players before this crucial tie.
Leigh Griffiths will return to the squad for this group B opener but Tuesdays match has come too soon for his talismanic strike partner, Moussa Dembele. Celtic had to come through the qualification rounds to earn their place in this year’s competition so could have a little more match mileage under their belts than their affluent opponents.
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG have taken the world by storm not once but twice this transfer window, with the acquisitions of Neymar Jr from Barcelona and Kylian Mbappe from Monaco for a reported combined total of nearly £350 million. Since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, PSG have had a clear mantra – to win the Champions League and it they will be dearly hoping to make this the year that they achieve that goal. They dispatched of Metz 5-1 domestically on Saturday and currently sit top of Ligue 1, with 5 wins from 5 games and an impressive +16 goal difference.
Head to Head
This is set to be the first competitive meeting between two sides and it promises to be a true David and Goliath tie.
Odds and Predictions
PSG will be very keen to show their superiority here and silence the home crowd as early as possible.
PSG to score first looks a banker bet at 1/4 with Sky Bet.
Celtic have a great record at home – both in European and Scottish football.
Both teams to score – YES – 19/20 with William Hill.
Neymar isn’t leading the line for PSG currently but scored against Celtic last season for Barcelona.
Neymar to score anytime is a generous 3/4 with Ladbrokes.
Score Prediction
Celtic 1 vs Paris Saint-Germain 3 – 11/1 – Sky Bet
Top Betting Tip
Celtic’s season will ultimately be defined on their European showing, but PSG just look too good currently.
PSG to win and over 2.5 goals in the game is 1.84 with Betfair.