Lazio will enter their match against Celtic in great form as the L’Aquile have won their past three matches in Serie A since losing to Celtic on October 24th. The Biancocelesti will come off a 2-1 win against AC Milan which had Joaquin Correa score a late game winner at the 83rd minute of the match. Simone Inzaghi was happy with his squad’s performance as it was their first win at the Giuseppe Meazza since 1989.
The Biancocelesti have shown inconsistency this season, however, their past few matches have been encouraging and they will look to carry that momentum into their match against Celtic. Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto have led the way this season for the Aquile. The striker currently leads the Serie A with 13 goals while Alberto leads in assists with seven. While Immobile might be inserted into the lineup after Correa picked up a slight injury in training this past week, it seems as if Inzaghi may elect to keep Alberto out of the line up and have him rested on the bench.
As for Celtic, they come into their match-up against the Biancocelesti in fine form. Celtic continues to have a great start to their season as the Bhoys sit in first in the Scottish Premiership with a record of 9W-1D-1L. Since they’ve played the Biancocelesti, the Bhoys have won 4-0 against Aberdeen and 2-0 versus St.Mirren. It is important to point out that the Italian and Scottish club have only met once which was their last encounter at Glasgow.
In Celtic’s last five league play matches, they have a record of 3-1-1 while Lazio has a record of 3-2-0. Expect an entertaining match Thursday evening as Celtic will look to clinch a spot into the round of 32 while Lazio will look to keep their hopes alive of qualifying.
Predicted line up: Lazio vs Celtic
Lazio (3-5-2): Strakosha; Vavro, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinković-Savić, Parolo, Berisha, Lulić; Luis Alberto, Immobile
Celtic (4-2-3-1): Forster; Elhamed, Jullien, Ajer, Hayes; Brown, McGregor; Forrest, Christie, Elyounoussi; Édouard
Suspensions and Injuries
Lazio: Out: Proto (wrist), Radu (muscular problem), Marusic (thigh muscle strain)
Doubtful: Caicedo (fatigue), Correa (calf), Immobile (fatigue)
Celtic: Out: Šimunović (knee), Bayo (knee), Griffiths (thigh), Bolingoli (hamstring)
Players to watch
Immobile continues to have a strong start to the 2019/20 season. This past Sunday, the striker scored his 100th goal with Lazio and reached another milestone this season. The forward continues to impress under manager Inzaghi as he’s scored over 20 goals in two of the last three seasons and looks to be on track to reach that target this season as he currently sits with 13 goals. If Immobile is to start against Celtic in Correa’s absence due to an injury, expect the striker to pick up where he left off this past Sunday against Milan.
Celtic will look to striker Odsonne Edouard as the forward has had a great start to the season. In their recent match of the Scottish League Cup, the Bhoys won 5-2 over the Hibs. While the striker didn’t score, he provided two assists and caused all sorts of trouble for the Hibs. The forward currently has seven goals and four assists in the Scottish Premiership. While Edouard has been sensational this season, he will need to avoid picking up a yellow card because if he does, he will miss his following match against Stade Rennes.