Celtic face an uphill struggle to make it to the group stages of this seasons Champions League, as they prepare to head South of the border for part two of the ‘Battle of Britain’ clash with Arsenal.

The tie is all but over after The Gunners recorded a 2-0 win at Celtic Park in the first leg last Tuesday. The task has been made even tougher by the absence of Landry N’Guemo, who is suspended after picking up another booking in the previous game.

Celtic's loan star will miss Arsenal tie​

The one glimmer of hope Mowbray’s men have going into Wednesday’s game is that Arsenal will be without captain Cesc Fabregas, who has been ruled out. They are also still without Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri, all out through injury.

Fabregas injury boosts Celts​

Celtic warmed up for the game with a 5-2 win over St. Johnstone, with Marc-Antoine Fortune hitting his first goals for the club and Shaun Maloney getting off the mark for the season in an impressive win. But, like the week before, The Bhoys win was over-shadowed by an impressive Arsenal side, who thrashed hapless Portsmouth 4-1 at home.

Despite the air of inevitability surrounding the tie, you can guarantee Celtic will be going all out for the win and the chance to grab a famous victory. Tony Mowbray may take some confidence from the fact that the shocking away form in Europe has been slightly improved by the 2-0 win in Moscow.

The importance of scoring the first goal has been stressed by several people, including the manager. Getting the first goal would give Celtic a massive lift, and perhaps cause some tension in the Arsenal ranks.

I am hoping the goals from the weekend will give a bit more belief to Fortune, who has the potential to cause real problems for the Arsenal backline. The kind of problems that could create space for Maloney, McDonald and McGeady – who can all do real damage.

Fortune got off the Marc against St.Johnstone​

Here’s hoping for another historic night for our famous club.

Hail! Hail!


Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy, Song, Ramsey, Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner, Eduardo, Mannone, Van Persie, Eboue, Arshavin, Wilshere, Gibbs, Silvestre, Merida.

Celtic (from): Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, Loovens, Daniel Fox, McCourt, Scott Brown, Donati, McDonald, Maloney, McGeady, Samaras, Fortune, Zaluska, Naylor, Flood, O'Dea, Caddis.