Celtic have the chance to maintain their status at the top of their Europa League group when they take on Lazio on Thursday night.
Charlie Nicholas has warned Celtic that Lazio will be ‘angry’ and ‘agitated’ from that 2-1 defeat they suffered at Parkhead last time out.
Sky Sports pundit Nicholas thinks that Celtic were ‘fortunate’ to win that Europa League group game encounter, as he backed Lazio to win Thursday’s game in Italy.
Neil Lennon’s side will be pleased to leave Lazio with a point tomorrow because they are currently sitting top of the tree in their Europa League group.
But ahead of that tie, former striker, Nicholas questioned what type of approach Celtic should take on their travels as he thinks that they will leave empty-handed.
“I am feeling a bit awkward about this one,” Nicolas told Sky Sports. “Celtic did brilliantly to beat them with a last-gasp winner first time around. I did flag up a 2-1 win, but they were fortunate. Celtic needed to take a good scalp eventually.
“In this one, do they attack, counter-attack or sit in? They are not a team that naturally sit in. Domestically, they have 70 per cent of the ball. Celtic are getting better at it and Neil Lennon is asking them to play the ball forward much quicker.
“Lazio will be angry and agitated as they should have gone two or three up at Celtic Park. The Serie A side must win here to stay in the group. Cluj will win I think so it may come down to head-to-head with these two sides. Lazio went fourth in Serie A and will get their revenge in this one.”
Celtic go into the match on the back of strong form and belief that they can do the job in Italy, as they no doubt have the attacking power to hurt their European rivals.
But as mentioned above, a point would be enough because defeat on Thursday could result in Celtic losing top spot to Cluj and then Lazio being only one point behind Lennon’s men.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
