Celtic host Czechia outfit Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday evening, with both sides looking to win their first match in Group H.
The visitors come into this fixture after a 3-0 away loss to AC Milan, while the Hoops secured their place in the Scottish Cup final last weekend with a 2-0 victory over Aberdeen.
Match preview
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Celtic have found it difficult to maintain their usual levels of consistency in recent weeks, having only won once in their last five matches in all competitions.
Having lost the Old Firm derby and drawn 3-3 with Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership, the Hoops have also struggled in the early stages of their Europa League campaign, losing 3-1 at home to AC Milan before letting slip a two-goal lead in their Group H draw with Lille.
Neil Lennon's side did manage to secure their place in the Scottish Cup final last Sunday with a victory at Hampden Park and captain Scott Brown was impressed with the team's performance and hopes Celtic can keep their momentum going.
One man who has been in fine form for Lennon's side recently has been Norwegian forward Mohamed Elyounoussi, who has scored four times in three matches, including all three of Celtic's goals in the Europa League.
The Hoops come up against a side who sit bottom of Group H and a win for Celtic would see them move level on points with Lille, should the French side lose to the current group leaders AC Milan.
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Sparta Prague have yet to impress in the early stages of their Europa League campaign, having lost both of their Group H matches.
The Czechia side however have had a brilliant start to their domestic league season, winning their opening six matches to sit top of the table, having conceded fewer goals than in their first two Europa League matches.
Manager Vaclav Kotal needs to find a way for his side to become more competitive when playing in Europe but understands that the quality of their opponents, in comparison to the teams that they regularly come up against domestically, is far superior.
Striker Lukas Julis is one man that Celtic will need to keep an eye on, as the 25-year-old has found the net six times in nine appearances this campaign.
Celtic Europa League form: LD
Celtic form (all competitions): WLLDDW
Sparta Prague Europa League form: LL
Sparta Prague form (all competitions): WWWWLL
Team News
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Winger James Forrest remains out with an ankle injury, while defender Kristoffer Ajer is also unavailable after suffering a groin strain.
Midfielder Nir Bitton may start once again as a central defender alongside Shane Duffy.
Goalkeeper Scott Bain is set to remain as Neil Lennon's number one after starting the last three matches in all competitions, which would see summer signing Vasilis Barkas remain on the bench.
Mohamed Elyounoussi, who scored twice in Celtic's last outing in the Europa League against Lille, is likely to start on the left-wing.
Ondrej Celustka, who started against AC Milan last week, should remain at the heart of the defence despite only recently returning to the side after a groin strain.
Defensive midfielder Ladislav Krejci II is back from suspension and could feature for the Czechia side.
Midfielder Michal Sacek, who has played the previous two matches at right-back, is likely to keep his defensive role in the starting XI.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Frimpong, Duffy, Bitton, Taylor; Brown, McGregor, Christie, Ntcham, Elyounoussi; Edouard
Sparta Prague possible starting lineup:
Heca; Sacek, Celustka, Lischka, Hanousek; Pavelka, Travnik; Hlozek, Dockal, Krejci I; Julis
We say: Celtic 2-1 Sparta Prague
The Hoops, with a weakened backline, may find it difficult in keeping a clean sheet but should have enough quality going forward to score more than their opponents, who have already conceded seven goals in their opening two Europa League group stage matches.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Celtic win with a probability of 66.91%. A draw had a probability of 19.6% and a win for Sparta Prague had a probability of 13.48%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.48%) and 2-1 (9.74%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.33%), while for a Sparta Prague win it was 0-1 (4.47%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood.
