Alashkert FC vs Celtic Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

With the Scottish Premiership becoming a procession for Celtic every year, they’ve been turning to Europe for competition. Brendan Rodgers has brought them to the money-spinning group stage in the previous two seasons, and last term they secured a place in the Europa League knockout round with a third place finish, behind the giants that are PSG and Bayern Munich. Celtic want to be mixing it with that calibre of opposition this time around, and they begin their push for the group stage with a trip to Armenia to face Alashkert on Tuesday night.

The Champions League has gone under some serious changes this time around, with new kick-off times, squad rule changes and more spots for the biggest leagues. That’s hit Celtic, who have to struggle through the Champions path, which is going to be much more difficult. They’re left fighting for just four places in the group stage, which is going to make things even more difficult for the Bhoys this season. They’re one of 32 national champions to feature at this stage, building up to teams like Young Boys and PSV joining the champions qualifying path. Making the last 32 and featuring in the group stage is going to be really tough.

However, Celtic do still have a chance, and they’ve been impressive in qualifying over recent years. The Scottish champions are heavy favourites for another strong result at Alashkert, with the Armenian side having little standing in Europe. The hosts have won one of their last six matches in the Champions League, and that was a narrow win over the champions of Andorra last season. This is a very different challenge for the Armenian side, and they aren’t likely to cause too much trouble for Celtic.

The champions won back to back away games to nil in qualifying last year. It was only when they reached the final hurdle in the competition that they started conceding. They kept a clean sheet in their first five matches in Europe, proving their quality on their way towards the group stage. With a giant gulf between them and Tuesday’s opponents, this is likely to be a similar story.

Alashkert have seen under 2.5 goals in six of their eight Champions League games, and in two of their last three at home. 60% of their home games in the league last season finished with fewer than three goals scored, while they’ve scored a single goal in their three preseason friendly matches. This should be a straightforward Celtic win, and we’re backing a 2-0 victory for the Scottish champions, along with under 2.5 goals to be scored in the game.