This is the second leg of the Third Qualifying Round tie between Norwegian side Rosenborg and Scottish Champions Celtic in the Champions League. The Hoops didn’t put in a great showing on home soil in the first leg at Celtic Park and have now made life a little bit difficult for themselves. After a goalless draw in Glasgow, Celtic now hit the road to visit the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim to try and find a way through this tie. At least they will be going into the game with the potential of away goals being recorded, but they would like to have had a cushion to play with.
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Draw Best Odd of: 12/5 at Betway |
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Rosenborg
CelticRosenborg will be hoping to call on the inspiration that saw them beat Celtic at home back in 2001, one of two previous meetings with the Scottish giants in Norway. With them having held out in that first leg on the road, when they were expected to turn up and lose the game, makes this a fascinating tie and Rosenborg are in as short as 9/5 with Betway to collect a win in this match. Celtic are running as favourites at 6/4 to collect the win, but they may be made to sweat in this one now. The Hoops are favourites to qualify though as they could get through this with a score draw whereas the home side have to come out and win.
Rosenborg Form
The benefit that Rosenborg have is that they are well into their new domestic season in Norway. They have played 17 league games already this season and they have posted a W10 D5 L2 record from that, so naturally, they are going to be much more match-ready in terms of fitness and sharpness than Celtic are. Rosenborg entered the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round when they just managed to scrape by with a 3-2 aggregate win after extra time against Dundalk. That is why they were expected to lose at Celtic Park. But over 90 minutes of action in the Champions League this season, that is three draws from three from them.
Celtic Form
Celtic came in at the last qualifying round as well of course and landed a comfortable 6-0 aggregate win over Linfield as expected. What makes this just a little trickier is that they open their domestic league season just three days later, so will they risk resting players in this game? Celtic, who are notoriously poor travellers in Europe have actually remained unbeaten in their last three away games in Europe (W1 D2). They still haven’t lost a game in any competition at all since a 2-0 home defeat against Barcelona in the group stage of last season’s Champions League towards the end of November.
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So there is a little head to head between these two, with that first leg a week ago being the fifth game contested between the two of them. Celtic hold a W3 D1 L1 record from those previous games but they are only W1 L1 out in Rosenborg. Their last visit there ended in a 2-0 loss back in October 2001.
Top Betting Tips
With both teams having failed to score in each of the last three meetings between the two of them, there is a price of Even money at Sky Bet on Both Teams NOT To Score in this fixture. Rosenborg will be pleased with their work in the first leg and that will give them hope to scrape along in this one and potentially cause an upset. Celtic do have the extra quality in them to get through, but this isn’t likely to be too easy for them. With Rosenborg having drawn their three games in qualifying so far, and Celtic having drawn two of their last three away in Europe, it will make sense to really cover the draw in the match outright. If it’s a score draw, that’s suits Celtic.