Celtic will return to Seville tonight, eighteen years after the UEFA Cup Final in the Spanish city. Ange Postecoglou will be hoping that his side can start the Europa League campaign with a result against Real Betis. The Spaniards, managed by Manuel Pellegrini, beat Granada 2-1 on Monday night whilst Celtic beat Ross County on Saturday. However, this will be a tough game against a top La Liga side.
Team News
Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Celtic would be without captain Callum McGregor and winger Liel Abada for the game. McGregor has a knock whilst Abada will be observing Yom Kippur. The pair are a real loss for the team as they would both normally have been nailed on to start.
Greg Taylor is also out with the left-back requiring surgery for a shoulder injury. This means that Adam Montgomery or Liam Scales could be drafted into the squad with Boli Bolingoli not registered for the clash. The manager may also decide to play Josip Juranovic at left-back as he did at Ibrox with Anthony Ralston returning.
Celtic are without James Forrest, who is returning to fitness and will resume full training shortly and Giorgos Giakoumakis won’t be in contention as the game against the Spanish comes too soon for him. Kyogo Furuhashi still has a few weeks on the sidelines but he did take to social media to indicate that he would be back soon.
Mikey Johnston was pictured training as he nears a return to action. The winger was injured in Celtic’s pre-season friendly with Bristol City. However, it is expected that this game will have come too soon for him. Karamoko Dembele and Christopher Jullien remain out injured.
James McCarthy may be looking to make his first start for Celtic with McGregor missing out through injury. In terms of wide areas, Celtic appear to be quite light so the manager might decide to utilise Montgomery further forward due to Abada’s absence.
Predicted XI: Hart; Juranovic, Starfelt, Carter-Vickers, Ralston; Soro, McCarthy, Rogic; Montgomery, Ajeti, Jota.
Kick-Off Time
The game will kick off at 17:45pm (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
The game will be shown on BT Sport 3 with coverage commencing at 17:15pm.
Come on Celtic!