Zenit v Celtic Betting Preview – UEFA Europa League 22nd February 7.45pm
Zenit are a strong home side and they will fancy their chances of still getting back into this tie. It’s still set up well for them even though they trail 1-0 from the first leg. They were lucky that it wasn’t by a bigger margin as they did not play well at Celtic Park. So it is advantage Celtic the tie but will they pay the price for not punishing a really sloppy Shakhtar performance by a bigger margin? It’s still game on.
Zenit News and Form
Even though Zenit are 1-0 down from the first leg at Celtic Park, they aren’t out of this. The deficit could have been more than what it is and that’s a positive for them. Zenit have never lost a UEFA Europa League home game before with an astonishing W16 D1 record from their seventeen previous home games in the tournament. Overall in Europe, they have won eleven of their last thirteen games at home, so they have what it takes to turn this time around. They won all of their home games in the group, but conceded in each so both teams to score at William Hill could be worth a flutter at 7/10 odds* (Betting Odds taken on February 18th, 2018 at 5:36 p.m.). Prior to this season’s meeting with Celtic, Zenit’s only previous clash with a Scottish side came against Rangers in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup final in Manchester which they won 2-0. Zenit are naturally a bit rusty with the Russian domestic season having gone through a two-month winter break and this will be their first game at home since December 2nd. They have lost the away first leg in UEFA competitions 15 times, recovering themselves on five of those occasions to make it through. When they have lost the first leg on the road by a 1-0 scoreline, they have gone through two times out of three.
Celtic News and Form
Celtic could have already put this tie out of reach of the Russians, so will they end up rueing not having pushed a sloppy Zenit more in the first leg? Time will tell. Celtic have a W4 D2 L1 record now against Russia sides and out in Russia they have never lost, with a W2 D1 record there, winning their last two there back to back. Celtic have never before won an away game in the UEFA Europa League League (D8 L5) and they have won just one of their last 19 matches away in Europe outside of qualifying matches. So they are not good travellers at all in UEFA competition, but they do have the advantage of being sharper and having more current match fitness than their opponents do. In the correct score market at William Hill the shortest priced option is a Zenit 1-0 at 11/2 with a 2-1 victory for the home side coming in at 15/2* (Betting Odds taken on February 18th, 2018 at 5:36 p.m.). Celtic have triumphed in 32 of the 45 UEFA competition ties in which they won the home first leg. After winning a first leg home match in a tie, Celtic have gone on to win seven and lose five of such ties. They are in the tie but can probably expect something of a backlash from the Russias in this one, Zenit’s home form in Europe speaks for itself.
Zenit v Celtic Head to Head
This tie is the first time that the two clubs have met up before.
Zenit v Celtic Betting Odds*
Zenit 7/4, Draw 14/5, Celtic 5/1* (Betting Odds taken on February 16th, 2018 at 6:24 p.m.)
Zenit v Celtic Predictions
Zenit looks strong enough to get back into this tie on home soil. They can’t do as poorly as they did in the first leg and with Celtic generally unreliable away from home in Europe, there is every chance that the Russians will end up winning the game.
