Former Celtic striker Mark Viduka thinks the Hoops might not have it all their own way against Dinamo Zagreb tomorrow night.
The Bhoys travel to Croatia on matchday six of the UEFA Champions League’s newly formatted league phase, knowing a win would all but seal their place in the knockout rounds.
With eight points from their opening five games, the Celts have made an almost formidable start to their European campaign, picking up vital points against Atalanta and Club Brugge while putting Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig to the sword.
Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb are now well within their sights as they aim to create history.
Although Nenad Bjelica’s side have a host of injuries and are winless in their last five matches across all competitions, Viduka, who played for the Hoops for two years and won one league cup along the way, thinks they will give the Scottish Premiership champions a tougher time than some might expect.
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He said [RecordSport]: “Dinamo has the advantage because they are at home, that’s my feeling. Even though they’re not in great form in the Croatian league right now. Dinamo has always been strong at home in European competitions.
“Celtic are in form, that’s obvious. Dinamo has injuries to important players like Bruno Petkovic, Arijan Ademi, Josip Misic, Petar Sucic, but I would say that they are still the favourites at home.
“These [European ties] are their biggest games of the season, and when they play so committedly, there’s a great chance of getting a result.”
Kick-off tomorrow evening is at the unusual time of 5.45pm in the UK.
German Felix Zwayer, previously done for match-fixing, is in charge of proceedings, with the action live on TNT Sports 1.
Brendan Rodgers will likely make a few changes from the team that beat Hibernian 3-0 in the league on Saturday as he aims to take his side into unchartered European territory.
