Celtic continue their quest to qualify for the Champions League group stages on Thursday, when they face Armenian champions Alashkert in the second leg of their first qualifying round tie on Wednesday.
Brendan Rodgers’ side face a much more arduous path towards the group stage of the competition this season, with four potentially hazardous qualifying rounds to navigate.
However, they brushed Alashkert aside last week, running out 3-0 winners away from home in Yerevan, with their lead appearing unassailable before the second leg in Glasgow.
The winner of the tie will progress to the second qualifying round, where either Iceland’s Valur or Norway’s Rosenborg await.
| Game | Celtic vs Alashkert |
| Date | Wednesday, July 18 |
| Time | 7:45pm BST / 2:45pm ET |
[embedded content]
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US) the game will be not be shown live on television, but it will be available to stream live online via Celtic’s in-house TV channel, Celtic TV.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | Celtic TV |
In the United Kingdom (UK), too, there will be no live airing of the game, but Celtic TV will be showing the encounter.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | Celtic TV |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Celtic squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Gordon, Bain, Hazard |
| Defenders | J. Hendry, Simunovic, Gamboa, Compper, Boyata, Lustig, Ajer, Tierney, Church, Duffy, Deas, McInroy, Ralston, Welsh, Bell |
| Midfielders | Brown, Sinclair, Morgan, Rogic, Allan, Ntcham, Robertson, McGregor, Forrest, Kennedy, Henderson, McLaughlin, McKay, Marku, Eboue |
| Forwards | Griffiths, Dembele, Hayes, Christie, Edouard, Miller, Hill, McGrath, R. Hendry, Diver, Johnston, Savoury, Aitchison |
Celtic beat Standard Liege 4-1 over the weekend, but were without Leigh Griffiths, nursing a calf problem. He has returned to training, but 90 minutes seems beyond him.
Scott Brown made it through 90 minutes against Alashkert last week despite concerns over an ankle injury, and is likely to start yet again this time out.
Potential Celtic XI: Gordon; Tierney, Simunovic, Hendry, Ajer; Brown, Ntcham, McGregor, Sinclair, Edouard; Dembele.
| Position | Alashkert squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Avagyan, Cancarevic, Petrosyan |
| Defenders | Voskanyan, Zeljkovic, Stojkovic, Antonic, Daghbashyan, Artak Yedigaryan, Praznovsky, Alan |
| Midfielders | Dashyan, Shahinyan, Sekulic, Simonyan, Jefferson, Artur Yedigaryan, Grigoryan, Odailson |
| Forwards | Manasyan, Nenadovic, Romero Jr. |
Alashkert boss Varuzhan Sukiasyan will be able to call upon a host of current and Armenia internationals, with the likes of defender Taron Voskanyan and captain Artur Yedigaryan bringing plenty of experience to the spine of the team.
Brazilian forward Jefferson and American winger Cesar Romero Jr. will be pushing for inclusion in the starting XI, with Miran Manasyan likely to lead the attack.
Potential Alashkert XI: Cancarevic; Voskanyan, Artak Yedigaryan, Stojkovic, Zeljkovic; Artur Yedigaryan, Dashyan, Simonyan, Nenadovic, Jefferson; Manasyan.
Betting & Match Odds
Celtic are huge favourites with dabblebet, and are 1/33 to win the game. Alashkert can be found at 28/1, while the draw is 12/1.
Click here to see all of dabblebet’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match Preview
The group stage of the Champions League doesn’t get started until the middle of September, but Celtic have already begun their continental journey with aplomb.
A 3-0 win in the first leg has handed them a security blanket this time out, with the Scottish champions overwhelming favourites to progress to the next stage.
Brendan Rodgers, though, insists that there will be no complacency from his players.
“We produced a really solid, professional performance away from home and we aim to continue with our good momentum that we have built up over this early part of pre-season,” he said.
“But we have to respect, they had a couple of opportunities out there, so they showed that they do have quality, speed and we have to pay attention to that.”
Celtic were knocked out in the group stages of the competition last season, finishing third in Group B behind PSG and Bayern Munich, and ahead of Anderlecht.
Alashkert, meanwhile, have never qualified for the competition, with the current incarnation of the team founded just seven years ago, in 2011.
Let’