Prediction: Rosenborg vs Celtic

Prediction: Rosenborg win

Best Odds: 23/10

Bookmaker: bet365

The dust has settled on the 2018 FIFA World Cup and as is usually the case, the Europa League & Champions League qualifiers are serving as the re-introduction of club football for all. Several notable clubs from across the continent will be entering proceedings at this stage, but only a handful will end up progressing to the group stages. This week, Celtic will attempt to keep their momentum going when they attempt to finish the job they started last week against Norwegian side Rosenborg.

Rosenborg

As the reigning Champions of Norway, there’s a certain weight on the shoulders of Rosenborg – in a similar manner to their opponents. Unfortunately, they aren’t a nation particularly well known for footballing excellence, and that became evident last week when they fell to Celtic in a convincing manner. Their home crowd will be vitally important in this one if they want to get a result from the game, as they’ll need to intimidate the Scots from the first whistle.

Team News

Rosenborg will be hoping that Alexander Soderlund can lead from the front, as the Norwegians attempt to implement an unorthodox attacking style from the word go in order to ensure that they can push Celtic back and cause them some real problems.

Celtic

Brendan Rodgers is starting to build a foundation at Celtic Park, and given their overwhelming dominance in domestic football, the next obvious step for them is to make a run towards the latter stages of the Champions League. They’ve got a good core unit in their ranks as evidenced by their performance last week, but seeing out results in Europe has always been a big issue for them. This will serve as an important test for their credentials moving forward, especially if they want to start attracting some bigger names to the club in the next few years.

Team News

Moussa Dembele could make a return to the starting XI, but beyond that, the Scots should have a relatively clean bill of health as they attempt to fine-tune their squad ahead of the Scottish Premier League season getting underway once again.

Factors to Consider

• Celtic won the first leg 3-1.
• Rosenborg have won four, drawn none and last two of their last six competitive games.
• Celtic have won four, drawn one and lost one of their last six competitive games.
• Rosenborg have scored ten & conceded six goals in their last six games.
• Celtic have scored eleven & conceded two goals in their last six games.

Conclusion

Celtic seem to have improved substantially over the course of the summer, but we’ve been here too many times before. They panic a great deal in European competition and we can see that being the case again here, with Rosenborg scraping a 1-0 home victory. However, courtesy of Celtic’s first leg triumph they’ll still go through on aggregate, but it’ll be a big warning sign ahead of what it sure to be tougher tests down the road.

Prediction: Rosenborg win

Best Odds: 23/10

Bookmaker: bet365