Celtic v Alashkert Betting Preview – UEFA Champions League 18th July 7.45pm
Celtic are firmly in the driving seat heading into the second leg of this Champions League first qualifying round tie against Alashkert. The Scottish Champions opened up a 3-0 lead from the first leg and with Wednesday night’s action to come from Parkhead then it’s hard to see the Bhoys failing to continue in the same manner in which they left off in the first leg. Read our Celtic v Alashkert predictions for more.
Celtic News and Form
Celtic have put a good stamp on this tie as they ran out 3-0 winners in the first leg on the road last week. They got a late first-half goal and then the rest of the damage came after the halftime break. Celtic didn’t really have full control of the game all of the way and had to show a bit of patience and grind through some early-season rust. With the severe heat that the match was played in as well, it may have played its part in them looking sluggish in the second half. Surprisingly Celtic experimented with two men up front, with Moussa Dembele and Edouard paired up and the latter, after signing a permanent deal in the summer opened the scoring just before the break. Celtic to win to nil is at 4/9 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from July 15th, 2018 at 6:54 p.m.) for the second leg of this contest as well.
They did not really press on after getting that goal just before the break and their other two goals came later on in the second half. Still, you can’t expect top-level performances so early in the summer. You have to account for some sloppy play and not consistent intensity around. Still, what matters is that they had a good workout and that’s 90 minutes of competitive football under their belt and they will only get better from there. The longer that Celtic keep the Armenians at bay then the more their challenge will just fade away. In the bet365 correct score market a Celtic 3-0 is not an unreasonable 5/1 poke* (Betting Odds were taken from July 15th, 2018 at 6:54 p.m.) for this second leg as Celtic will be at ease on home soil.
Alashkert News and Form
Celtic’s opponents missed the boat in the home leg. It wasn’t entirely their fault of course because they just fell short at the end of the day in quality, even though they weren’t overrun by Celtic to be fair. There is a long way back for the Yellows in this tie and it’s unlikely that at Celtic Park they are going to put anything into this. They have competed before in UEFA Champions League qualifiers and got to the second round in their two previous Champions League qualification campaigns. This will stop that streak. St Johnstone fans won’t have happy memories of Alashkert as they did beat them in the first qualifying round of the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League on away goals. That is their only previous experience against Scottish sides before this clash with Celtic. With Celtic dropping away in the second half of the first leg, Alashkert did get a couple of chances, but there was nothing there overall that really had Celtic threatened in the match. Both teams NOT to score is a decent Celtic v Alashkert betting tip at 4/11 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from July 15th, 2018 at 6:54 p.m.).
Celtic v Alashkert Head to Head
The first leg was the first-ever meeting between the two clubs. The winners of this tie will go and face Valur Reykjavík or Rosenborg in the second qualifying round. The loser will drop to the Europa League qualifiers and meet either Astana or Sutjeska in the second qualifying round there.
Celtic v Alashkert Betting Odds*
Celtic 1/16
Draw 12/1
Alashkert 20/1
(Betting Odds were taken from July 15th, 2018 at 6:54 p.m.)
Celtic v Alashkert Predictions
Not too surprisingly for our Celtic v Alashkert betting tips were are looking at a comfortable home win cropping up. We are fully on board with Celtic to win to nil in this game. They weren’t totally dominant in that 30-degree heat in Yerevan but will be better back on home soil for having had that test.
