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ON THE VERGE OF GLORY: A FC ASTANA-CELTIC PREVIEW

Celtic FC v FK Astana - UEFA Champions League Qualifying Play-Offs Round: First Leg
The Celtic team before kick-off against Astana last week
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

FC ASTANA (0) V CELTIC (5) CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF SECOND LEG: TUESDAY 22ND AUGUST 4:30PM

Celtic travel to Astana with a five goal lead knowing that we are only 90 minutes away from qualifying for the Champions League for the second year running. Get hyped!

Team Selection: Brendan Rodgers could be tempted to make changes as we are likely to be on the backfoot for most of the game, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we play a in a more defensive set up at first, I would play Kristoffer Ajer at the back and put Nir Bitton into his more typical midfield role, as we will need a lot of bodies in that area of the park, I imagine that Rodgers will stick with Bitton at centre-half alongside Simunovic. It wouldn’t surprise me if the same XI who started the first leg start tomorrow.

Previous Meetings: Celtic 5 FC Astana 0. Nothing more needs to be said...but you can still watch the highlights below.

Prediction: This will not be an easy game at all; Astana have a formidable record at home and they will come out all guns blazing knowing that they need to score goals. They could play into Celtic’s hands though, and we have the players that can pick them off on the break and get the result needed that confirms our place in the Champions League group stages.

FC Astana 1 Celtic 2