Celtic travel to France to play an in-form Lille team needing to get their Europa League campaign up and running.

Celtic’s opponent in round 2 of matches sit in joint top spot in Ligue 1 tied with PSG on 18 points and are certainly one of the form teams in Europe at the moment. Lille thumped Sparta Prague 4-1 away in the Czech Republic and are leading the group so the Hoops need to get something from the game if they are to avoid their rivals from getting away from them.

With bookies offering a Lille win at 8/13, a draw at 16/5 and a Celtic win at 17/4 it’s clear how the they see the match with Neil Lennon’s side resounding underdogs. The recent home 3-1 loss to AC Milan in the Europa League obviously has a large bearing on the views of the bookmakers not to mention the 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Rangers.

Celtic have not had great results in the Europa League in recent campaigns and their performances in the qualifying rounds ahead of the competition beginning offered little reason for optimism.

The game against Lille comes at a time for the squad when a win is needed as a run of three games without a win must be ended soon if the club don’t want to allow the short streak to develop into a slump. The minimum return from the game must be a point but Celtic will need a solid all round performance to get a result in France.

Prediction: Lille 1-1 Celtic