Celtic vs Lazio 04/10/2023: Sarri’s side to record a resounding victory in Scotland
Celtic face a tough-looking test when they face Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening.
Celtic vs Lazio – Date, KO time and TV coverage
Champions League, Wednesday, October 4, Kick-off 8pm, live on TNT Sports
Celtic vs Lazio – Predictions
- Lazio to win
- Lazio to score over 1.5 goals
- Celtic 0-3 Lazio
Celtic vs Lazio – Team News
Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Holm will be suspended after being shown red cards in the 2-0 loss at De Kuip.
Stephen Welsh and Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss out due to injury. Liel Abada’s absence means Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Luis Palma could start in attack.
Maurizio Sarri has a clean bill of health for the trip to Celtic Park and will deploy the dangerous-looking trio of Felipe Anderson, Ciro Immobile and Mattia Zaccagniup top.
Celtic vs Lazio – Verdict
Celtic have had a superb start to the Scottish Premiership season, with their only blemish being a 0-0 draw against St. Johnstone.
Things haven’t started so well in the Champions League, with an error-strewn performance seeing them lose 2-0 to Feyenoord at De Kuip.
Lazio have suffered a slow start to their domestic season, winning just two of seven as Sarri searches for the right combinations. However, they did beat Napoli.
Goalkeeper Ivan Provedel scored a spectacular last-minute goal to earn the Italians a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on matchday one.
The underlying stats are starting to suggest that the Scottish side is out of their depth at this level.
The Hoops are winless in their last 10 Champions League ties and continue to make life hard for themselves by extending their winless run on matchday one.
Even in their most recent Europa League campaign, you can highlight large spells where they looked competitive before the opposition were able to go up a level and outscore Celtic.
Lazio’s record doesn’t read much better, winning just two of their previous 10. The point against Atletico may feel like a bonus but Sarri will be targeting this fixture.
Matchday one may have felt like a victory for the Italian side, but this is a crucial match if either of these sides wants to escape a tough group.
We expect a cautious start from both teams with the game opening up in the late stages and it’s the Italians who have the quality to take control when that happens.
