Celtic vs Malmo Prediction and Football Tips – 19/08/15
Champions League football tips – Celtic vs Malmo prediction
Celtic are unlikely to make many changes from the team which defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4-2 on the weekend. The one major change could be the inclusion of striker Nadir Ciftci, who was serving a ban on the weekend and he could replace Stuart Armstrong, with Leigh Griffiths dropping further back.
Malmo’s only change from the team which defeated Red Bull Salzburg in the previous round is an enforced one. Ghanaian central midfielder Enoch Kofi Adu is suspended, having been sent off in that match and he could be replaced by Felipe Carvalho. Markus Rosenberg and Nikola Djurdjic should continue up-front.
Possible Line-ups
Celtic: 4-2-3-1 formation: Gordon; Mulgrew, Boyata, Van Dijk, Izaguirre; Bitton, Brown; Mackay-Steven, Johansen, Griffiths; Ciftci
Malmo: 4-4-2 formation: Wiland; Tinnerholm, Arnason, Bengtsson, Yotun; Rodic, Lewicki, Carvalho, Berget; Djurdjic, Rosenberg
- Celtic have won 8 and drawn 2 of their last 10 matches
- Malmo have won 5, drawn 4 and lost 1 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Celtic have scored an average of 2.3 goals and conceded an average of 0.6 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Malmo have scored an average of 1.6 goals and conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of Celtic’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Malmo’s previous 10 matches
- Celtic and Malmo have only lost 1 match between them, in their last 20 combined
This will be the first time Celtic and Malmo have played each other and both come in to the match in good form. Celtic dropped points at Kilmarnock last week but are still unbeaten in their last 14 competitive matches and manager Ronny Deila was delighted with his team’s performance in their win at the weekend. However, Celtic made heavy going of their previous tie against Qarabag and will want to take a decent lead to Sweden for the second leg.
Malmo will have to perform better in Glasgow, then they did in Salzburg a few weeks ago as it’s unlikely they will be able to turn around a 2 goal deficit again. Although their overall form domestically has not been great, their recent form has been decent and they are now unbeaten in their last 5 league games. Malmo made the group stages of the Champions League last season but lost 5 of their 6 matches.
Having seen what Malmo did to Salzburg in the previous round, Celtic will feel the need to take a decent lead to Sweden. However, Celtic will believe their defence is up to the job of holding on to a lead and they will need to, as this match is going to be tight.