Tuesday 5 December 2017 19:21, UK
Celtic can ensure they are not dumped out of Europe completely by avoiding a heavy defeat at home to Anderlecht on Tuesday night.
Brendan Rodgers' side have been eliminated from the Champions League following defeats in their four Group B matches against PSG and Bayern Munich, but their 3-0 win away at Anderlecht in September has left them in pole position to finish third and claim a place in the Europa League.
The Belgian side have lost all five of their Champions League group stage matches this season, but know that a victory by a three-goal margin or more would see them leapfrog Celtic and take the last-32 Europa League berth.
The match will also be a landmark occasion for Scott Brown, who is set to overtake Kenny Dalglish's record of 68 European Cup appearances.
Rodgers said: "He's in great company with Kenny, who is a real legend here at Celtic and at Liverpool also. It tells you the mark of his consistency to have played that number of games, to have been available and been chosen for these games by various managers."
Brown will start and captain Celtic, while Moussa Dembele and Nir Bitton both return to the squad for the game.
The French striker has recovered from an ankle injury and the Israel midfielder has shrugged off a knock.
On-loan winger Patrick Roberts has returned to parent club Manchester City after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring complaint which could keep him out for three months.
On-loan Paris Saint Germain striker Odsonne Edouard scored a hat-trick against Motherwell at the weekend and Rodgers confirmed he is in contention for Tuesday's game.
Anderlecht forwards Alexandru Chipciu and Nicolae Stanciu are set to miss the match through injury and manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck has admitted: "We can no longer deny that we have a lack of scoring power."
I think that Sky Bet are teasing Celtic fans in by making them only marginally odds-on to win this game, despite battering Anderlecht away.
Anderlecht were in turmoil in that match and they don't seem to have come out of that, despite getting a win at the weekend, so I'm quite confident for this one, for once!
Anderlecht have to win by three goals to get level and that isn't going to happen. Celtic fans will understand they don't need to force the game, the atmosphere will build and I think Celtic will pick them off.
We're waiting to see if Moussa Dembele is fit and if he is then they can definitely do some damage on the break. If he starts I'd be backing him to score, especially with Leigh Griffiths going off the boil.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 2-0, Dembele to score first (25/1 with Sky Bet)
Celtic are marginally odds-on at 17/20 with Sky Bet, who price both an Anderlecht win and the draw at 3/1. Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele share favouritism at 10/3 apiece in the first goalscorer betting, while Lukasz Teodorczyk is considered the visitors' main threat at 11/2 to break the deadlock.
