Two of the more unlikely sides from the earlier Champions League qualification rounds go head-to-head for a place in the prestigious Champions League group stages.
Celtic have done well since their shock loss away at Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar gave them a bit of a slap in the face. The Hoops managed to come through a tricky tie against Kazakh side Astana and have simultaneously started their domestic title defence well with an away win against Hearts whilst they smashed Motherwell 5-0 in the Scottish League Cup.
Manager Brendan Rogers has made some impressive moves in the transfer market this summer, firstly securing Moussa Dembele from Fulham who was wanted by many English Premier League clubs for a nominal fee. Celtic’s latest signing is Scott Sinclair from Aston Villa who really lost his way after a big-money move to Manchester City in 2012. The former Chelsea youth player has had the dream start to his Celtic Park career by netting in both matches for his new club.
Celtic’s match against Partick Thistle on Saturday was postponed in controversial circumstances. The decision by the SPFL to allow the Hoops to play a friendly against Inter Milan was labelled as ‘farcical’ by Partick manager Alan Archibald – and quite rightly so – it makes the Scottish league look like a complete laughing stock.
However, it came to Celtic’s advantage as they rested many key players for this match so the important players of the squad should be well prepared for this all-important Champions League tie.
Hapoel have done incredibly well to get this far, the surprise 2015/16 Israeli champions managed to dispatch Olympiakos, a side who have dominated Greek football for the last few years, without conceding a goal.
The Israeli Premier League does not start until 20th August so Barak Bakhar’s side are still without regular competitive football. Although on the other hand it does allow them to focus entirely on qualification for the Champions League group stages.
Celtic have done well in recent fixtures and I would back them to win again here. With their being no value in the straight win I would go with a win to nil at 3/2. I cannot imagine Hapoel being too much of a threat to the Scottish champions and will be happy to sit back before attempting to counter attack – much like they did against Olympiakos. However, this time I think Celtic’s forward line will be too strong for them.
The main man in Celtic’s attack is usually Leigh Griffiths but I am backing Scott Sinclair to score anytime for the Hoops at 9/5. The 27-year-old seems to have found a new lease of life since arriving in Glasgow and is showing the form that we have not seen since his Swansea days – where of course he was managed by Brendan Rogers.
See more tips here.