A win here for Celtic could put them through to the Europa League knockout stages. We asked Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) whether they’ll do it.
Astra Giurgiu v Celtic | Thursday 18:00 | BT Sport 1
There’s been recent evidence to suggest that new boss Ronny Deila is turning things round at Celtic Park. Two wins in a row in this Europa League group were followed by their first weekend win of the season in a European week. In fact it’s five wins in a row for the Glasgow club.
The final two hurdles that need to be cleared before the Deila unrest gets put to bed are a strong result here and a follow-up win against in-form Aberdeen at the weekend.
I’m reluctant to back Celtic here at 8/5 with Ladbrokes after the way they toiled through the reverse fixture two weeks earlier. Celtic scored late twice to win the game 2-1 but the Romanian side had more shots on target than the home side that night.
Celtic have traditionally struggled away from home in Europe, and even now their sights have been lowered, they’re still finding it hard to pick up three points. In four away games this season, they’ve won just one and that was a 1-0 triumph against the minnows of KR Reykjavik. To be fair to the Scottish club, they have drawn away against Maribor and Red Bull Salzburg, but I’ll look for an alternative to the Celtic win.
Astra have found things tough in this group with three defeats out of three, but let’s not forget they knocked out Slovan Liberec and Lyon in earlier rounds. I’ll be bold here and back the outsider of the three in the Win-Draw-Win market. It’s a draw for me at 12/5 with Coral.
TOPICS European Football Football Scottish Football Betting TipsBest Bet
Astra Giurgiu v Celtic – Draw (12/5 Coral)
