2:35 am. That’s what time it will be in Astana, and in Astana FC’s players’ body clocks, at full time tomorrow night. Whereas Celtic will play the away tie during our afternoon, Astana will fight their natural instinct to be asleep, which will be a clear advantage for Celtic.
They conceded two goals at Celtic Park last year, in added at the end of each half. We should expect them to tire during similar periods this time, particularly so as full time approaches. If the tie remains tight late on, we should re-energise for a final push against what should be increasingly disorientated opponents.
Marin Tomasov joined Astana last month. He earned two assists in his last game, takes set-pieces and can shoot from distance.
Their other attacking dangers are Twumasi and Kabananga. Both are fast wing-players, who will attempt to press Celtic as high up the field as possible, and will break forward at every opportunity
Astana’s key concern is in goal. They have two keepers vying for the no. 1 spot, neither good enough to make it his own. Nenad Eric is likely to get the nod against Celtic. He is weak in the air and noted to spill shots. There should be scraps for Leigh to feed from.
Defensively, they rely more on numbers than aptitude. While Twumasi gets forward quickly, he isn’t known for getting back to do the hard work. Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair should be able to exploit this down Celtic’s left.
Make no mistake, this is a tie Celtic should win, but Astana will be more difficult opponents than anyone we will meet domestically this season. We have a big night ahead tomorrow – the most important game Celtic Park will host this season.
LISTEN to the latest CQN Podcast now…
605 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- »
VP
It was to pick family up. It was well AM.
Whit’s wrang wi looki like a tourist anyway???? ;)
Fairhill
£30m for Salas. My God, who approved that purchase. I would be very happy if we paid £5m and he played the way he played tonight. I saw the game v Watford. He scored but couldn’t really miss. The first chance he missed tonight he was clean through after being given an 8 yard start on the defender and he fluffed the shot. Same with his big chance in the second half. He may prove me wrong but I don’t think he’s up to much.
Fairhill
* Fairhill Bhoy
Sorry.
Aw feck. I wouldn’t be very happy……..
I blame it on the lack of drink !
I’ve set my alarm for 2.15am should give me enough time to get up and ready for the game – still seems an odd time to kickoff.
POGMATHONYAHUN AKA LAIRD OF THE SMILES-I agree but I have a soft spot for Liverpool due to family circumstances,and it will never wane,never ever:-)) Me and my dad will be up in 416 tomorrow night watching the hoops ,another thing that won’t be allowed to wane,according to my dad:-))
Breaking
Paddy Roberts has…
More to come later.
MWD
i wiz Lucky eFGabtarnou ghto Sit in the
DD and OT outside the BV
Pass and Move
TOSB-that’s sky for yi,and for my sins I pay for it
Fairhill Bhoy
Ive got quite a few close friends in Liverpool.
Ive been to Anfield loads of times.
Like to see them do well.
HH
Vladimir,
Abdul Qadir
CELTIC
Bill Jioedl, lodle.
CELTIC
DD whit are you doing encouraging those Portonians to believe they live in a paradise. Dear me, the rest of us will need to leave Inverclyde.
SYGROOOVE
eASYGROOVE.
bEST dj ever.
hOW IS kOUASSSI?
dAVE aNGEL
iN tIME.
Pog
Wish outside BV looked like that. :)
Saint Stivs
Got my ticket online, thanks again for the info.
Area 403 here we go!
HH
TGM-I didn’t live in Liverpool,I lived in Birkenhead,over the Mersey,but my mums husband was a red,so there you go,no that am blaming him,he wasn’t all bad:-))
DD – you still be in BV around 6?
tHE aRMAGH DECIPHA.
cLASSS AIN A gLASS,
tHINK.
Hoff
Brendan.CSC
Whats going on
;))
Kids lost 3 .1 this evening, not bad considering they played with 10 men for 81 minutes
Oldtim
I’ll call in the morning, should be in at approx 3.40 …
Connaire
Sorry haha.
Have been impressed by improvements to the Port infrastructure. I love Greenock historically, and not the nick. ;)
THIS IS SO BAD!!..even by that walloper Chris(topher) Jacks standard.
PEDRO CAIXINHA is pleased with the reaction of his Rangers squad in the aftermath of their Premiership defeat to Hibernian.
The Light Blues were beaten 3-2 by Neil Lennon’s side at the weekend as they missed out on back-to-back league victories.
The visit of Hearts is next on the Gers’ agenda on Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways at the first attempt.
And boss Caixinha is confident his side will strive for further improvement and get better with time this term.
“Stronger and with even more desire to work and do the things even better,” he told RangersTV. “The best answer is always work harder.
“Yesterday (Monday) the boys came back into training, half did recovery and those who hadn’t played or had played less time gave me one of the best sessions ever since we arrived.
“They need to be focussed and work hard now on the next game for us because that is the only option we have now.
“We have been great in the way we approach the game, the way we get into the game, the way we started the first 20 minutes was really brilliant.
“I believe the scoring chances we created were more than enough to be a comfortable result to control the game. I was very pleased with the boys for that, they did that very well and they want to keep it that way.
“Along the way we will reach half-time and not always be winning games by 3-0 or
2-0 so we need to understand that sometimes it is important for us to control the tempo.
“We always win so at least if we don’t win we learn, so we never lose. What we learnt from this game is that we need to control the ball a little bit more in some moments because they equalised around 20-21 minutes and before that we had four easy losses which gave confidence to the opponent.
“Those are the points we need to keep working on, the boys need to understand it and of course during this week we will be a lot more focussed on these things.”
Fairhillbhoy
My eldest brother was married in Birkenhead in 86,
Nephew getting married 1st September in New Brighton
Watching “War on the Planet of the Apes”
Definitely Gorilla Warfare
Scaniel
I will be there at 6 tomorrow definitely mate.
Would love to meet you again.
There is a Light and it never goes out. Celtic
Wanting Liverpool to win !!!!!!!!FFS.Yep,why not.Never mind about Pot 3,cause
“I love Liverpool”.Some belters on here.
I bet Pedro’s glad they didn’t lose on Saturday
Looks like penalties for Albion Rovers vs Annan.
Mon the rovers.
TGM-last time I was in the woodchurch estate was 4years ago,for the first time since I left when I was 14yrs old,so memory not the best
Pedro is no the full euro
Turkeybhoy
Keep yer wig oan:)
FFS:)
HH
VP
Stronger than.
VP:
Fairhill Bhoy
Birkenhead. The Scouse Tim from Huyton would call you a wooly back:)
Birkenhead is like Bulgaria to my mates:)
HH
Not Long now.
Pedro’s art of never losing. A win/win situation.
BT
One of my memorable girls fae my teens was a gorgeous Irish lass from Wavertree. Her family of 4 boys and 4 girls were mental. Her dad supported Everton, her mum Liverpool.
The five men went to Goodison, the five women went to Anfield. All 10 liked me and adored Celtic so I was always neutral in Liverpool. :)
Paddy not happening tonight according to McLaughlin BBC.