Thursday evening, at 17:55, Red Bull Leipzig receives Celtic’s visit to Group B’s third round in the UEFA Europa League. The two bands are working at a different level: Leipzig is one of the protagonists in the Bundesliga (5th place), a technically and physically strong competition, while Celtic has even struggled even in the Scottish league.
The hosts do not have lot problems, while the Scotans come without Ajer and Bitton, and German Compper is uncertain about a muscle problem. The two bands had a similar run this season of the Europa League: both have 3 points in the group after winning the Rosenborg Norwegians, but lost to the FC Salzburg leader! By the way, Leipzig’s only failure on home ground this season was recorded with his Austrian club friend, and the German team is still good enough: 6-1-1. On average, Leipzig scores 3.0 goals per game home, where it has already scored 24 times.
Leipzig is a “car” of goals on the ground.
Moreover, in 8 of the last 10 games played in the Leipzig arena scored at least 4 goals! Celtic has a very difficult mission and Brendan Rodgers’s play is far from being convincing this season. Celtic has only three wins against German clubs after 22 games and in 11 away games he has only three draws. Even with a series of 9 matches in a row with a goal scored in the Europa League, Celtic still has not won far from the arena in Glasgow – 8 draws and 5 failures in the group stage of the European competition.
With a goal scored in 3 of the last 5 European tours, Celtic is not an easy team to predict, because the white-green game is often inconstant. The modest character of the Scottish league makes Celtic attract increasingly tough footballers and has recently lost Dembele, who forced his transfer to Lyon. On top of each other, there is a clear difference in skill and strength between the two clubs, and Leipzig will press the acceleration from the start.
Leipzig comes after a 0-0 win in Augsburg, but before that match he won 4 consecutive non-appeal games: 6-0 with Nurnberg, 3-1 with Rosenborg, 2-1 with Hoffenheim and 2-0 with Stuttgart. Celtic has 4 wins and a failure in the last 5 official matches, and in the championship seems to have returned, after 4-2 with Hibernian and 6-0 at St. Johnstone. Brendan Rodgers’s defensive, however, is too easy to be surprised at such a high level.
PREDICTION: RB Leipzig to win @ 1.42
