Former Celtic star and current Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has said that the Hoops should be able to overcome their “awful” away record and pick up a win against Rosenborg on Thursday night.
The Bhoys head to their Norwegian rivals knowing that they almost need to secure all three points to keep their hopes of qualification alive as they currently sit level on points with RB Leipzig.
Speaking ahead of the game, Nicholas highlighted their unimpressive record on the road, both domestically and in Europe, but tipped them to overcome their struggles with victory.
Predicting a 2-1 win for Brendan Rodgers’ side, he wrote in his Sky Sports column: “It’s a must-win for Celtic, but they’ve picked up a bit lately, they’re playing well and scoring goals.
“Their away record is awful but they can have a real go in this one and I think they can do it and win this game.”
Opinion
Nicholas might be being a little harsh to the Hoops with his assessment of their away record. Yes, their European trips have not brought them much joy at all, with defeats to both RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg, but in Scotland they have started to show that they are not worried about travelling as they were earlier on in the campaign. It is not necessarily a must win for the Hoops but you would expect that Rodgers is looking for nothing less than three points to try and boost their hopes of promotion. Their final game sees them play host to table toppers Salzburg, who have not lost a European clash this season, and as such they cannot rely on three points at Parkhead in a couple of weeks. A 2-1 win on Thursday would go down very nicely and set things up for a more comfortable finish – although things will still be tense on the final day of fixtures.