Can Celtic edge closer to a spot in the Champions League with a play-off win over Astana?

Unsurprisingly for a side that won the 2016/17 Scottish Premiership by a whopping 30 points – without losing a single game – Celtic have got off to a flying start to their domestic season. Back to back league wins, including a 4-1 thrashing of Hearts in their curtain raiser, were joined by a hefty 5-0 League Cup victory over Kilmarnock.



What is perhaps a tad more surprising, at least compared to last season’s mess, is how relatively stress-free Celtic’s European progress has been. Now, clean wins over Northern Irish champions Linfield and Norwegian title-holders Rosenborg isn’t exactly going to inspire fear in the Barcelonas and Bayern Munichs awaiting Celtic if they make it to the Champions League proper. However, it is a sign of how much more comfortable the Hoops are under Brendan Rodgers compared to this time last year that they are yet to concede a goal in qualifying (in fact, in 7 competitive fixtures they’ve only let in one). Remember, this is a team that last season lost their first qualifying match to Gibraltar’s semi-professional Lincoln Red Imps.

With Moussa Dembele still injured there is more pressure than ever on Leigh Griffiths. The Scottish international has risen to the occasion so far, scoring 4 times in 5 appearances, and heads in the play-off 1st leg with a Super Mega PGM of 37-43. Scott Sinclair, who actually out-scored Griffiths last season, is then at 31-37, while Tomas Rogic and Stuart Armstrong at are 14-18 apiece.

As for Astana, the Kazakhstani champs have largely avoided any major qualifying hiccups. They beat Spartaks Jurmala 2-1 on aggregate, with a win in Latvia followed by a 1-1 draw at home. Stanimir Stoilov’s men were far more commanding in the next round, securing a feisty 3-1 victory in Kazakhstan before admittedly suffering a 1-0 loss in Poland.

Celtic actually faced their Wednesday opponents during 2016/17’s fraught qualifying campaign, only in the 3rd round not the play-offs. There they had to scrape a 1-1 draw on the road, before a pair of penalties – including one in the 92 minute – gave them the needed 2-1 win in Glasgow. Rodgers’ will be praying for a more confident result this time around, with Spreadex offering a Celtic/Astana Goal Supremacy spread of 1.2-1.4 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.45-2.65.