Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava Predictions, Odds and Betting Tips: Red-hot Callum McGregor in 17/2 special

Celtic begin their 2024/25 Champions League journey at home to competition debutants Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday 18th September, live on TNT Sports 2 at 8pm.

Celtic have started the new Scottish Premier League season with a bang, claiming five wins from five, scoring 14 goals, complete with five clean sheets; with their most notable win a 3-0 demolition of Rangers earlier this month.

While Celtic are accustomed to dominating Scottish football, it's been a different story in the Champions League where they've scrapped only one win from their last 15 matches. As for just group stage games, they have lost 21 of the last 30, securing just three wins in the process. On top of that, manager Brendan Rodgers has yet to crack the Champions League format with two wins, four draws, and 12 defeats from his 18 group stage matches in charge of the Hoops.

Enough of the negativity - Celtic will hope to shake off their European shackles in a new season with a new format. Celtic have been installed as the odds-on favourites to kick-off their latest Champions League campaign with a win at home to Slovan Bratislava, who like Celtic, have enjoyed domestic dominance with five Slovakian championships in six seasons, yet this is the first time they've made it through to the Champions League group stages in 12 attempts.

Celtic will never have a better opportunity to nail an opening win on the board, but they don't offer much appeal at 2/9 given their record in the competition. Midnite's 15/8 on a home win and both teams to score offers more bang for your buck considering that Celtic haven't kept a clean sheet in the competition for 15 matches, spanning four years - while the visitors will see this match as an opportunity to put in a competitive showing in their Champions League debut.

Celtic skipper Callum McGregor has already scooped three goals in five league games this season, surpassing his tally from the whole of last season (2).

All three goals - against Hibernian, St Mirren, and Rangers - have been absolute screamers from outside the box, and the 31-year-old will surely fancy his chances of keeping up his red-hot form on Wednesday against Slovan Bratislava.

As his superb start to the season highlights, he's not shy in having a dig from range, so I will be having some loose change on Midnite's offering of 17/2 for the midfielder to find the back of the net once again from outside the box.

Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava Predicted Line Ups

Celtic Predicted Starting XI:
Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor, Hatate, Engels; Kuhn, Maeda, Furuhashi.

Slovan Bratislava Predicted Starting XI:
Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Bajric, Wimmer; Kucka, Szoke, Tolic; Barseghyan, Weiss, Strelec

Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava Head-To-Head