Celtic v Ferencvarosi: Hungarians look over-priced for Glasgow mission

“These teams have met once before, and it was the Green Eagles on top, snatching a 2-1 win”

Celtic v Ferencvarosi TC
Tuesday, 15:30
Live on BT Sport

Round three of the Europa League group stage commences on Tuesday when Celtic host Ferencvarosi. This is a must-win match for the Bhoys following defeat in their opening two, but thousands of fans face missing the chance to cheer on Ange Postecoglou’s team due to a shambolic Tuesday mid-afternoon start.

With Glasgow hosting the COP26 climate summit next month, neither Celtic nor Rangers can play their round four games in the city. That has thrown the schedule into disarray. Celtic scrambled to make it Tuesday and had to agree an early start time due to the Champions League fixtures played later in the day.

Bhoys bottom of the group

Besides schedule change, Celtic are under pressure to beat Ferencvarosi and get their first points of the campaign on the board. The home team is stuck to Group G’s bottom after two games with zero points on the board and a minus five-goal difference. They have suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Real Betis in Spain and Bayer Leverkusen at Parkhead, leaking eight goals in the process.

Things aren’t going much better for Ange’s team domestically, and they can be found down in fourth place in the Scottish Premiership, having failed to win four of their first nine games – three defeats and a draw. They did bag their fifth win of the campaign on Saturday when leaving Fir Park with a 2-0 victory. Strikes from Neves Filipe and David Turnbull helped sink an ambitious Motherwell side that had set their sights on an upset.

Glasgow holds happy memories

Hungarian champions Ferencvarosi arrive in Glasgow with happy memories of playing Celtic on the road. These teams have met once before, and it was the Green Eagles on top, snatching a 2-1 win in a one-legged Champions League qualifier in 2020. David Siger broke the deadlock on seven minutes before Ryan Christie fired back, then Tokmac Nguen nicked a late winner to send Ferencvarosi through and Celtic out.

The visitors are also without a win in the group at this stage, ahead of their hosts on goal difference. They have played two, lost two, scored two and conceded five. It may be very early in the campaign, but Ferencvarosi knows that if they fail to take something from this match, they’ll be facing elimination with a third-place finish the best they could hope to achieve.

Hoops are home win favourites

The betting suggests Postecoglou’s troops shouldn’t be affected too much by the change to their schedule and the early kick-off. They are hot favourites to bag a victory at the third attempt, with Celtic trading at 1.654/6 on the Betfair Exchange. That could make its way onto a fair share of Tuesday accumulators alongside Champions League and EFL predictions.

But Ferencvarosi have won here before and will believe they can win here again. Despite their form in Glasgow and the fact the Hungarians have conceded three fewer goals than their Group G opponents, Ferencvarosi is available at 65/1. That’s a big offer and looks massively overpriced. It’s sure to catch the attention of the value hunters amongst us.

Go for goals in this one

Celtic kept a clean sheet at the weekend, which would have added confidence to Ange’s backline, but the home defence remains a work in progress. Both teams to score in this match at 1.814/5 is inviting.

It certainly makes more sense than taking the no option in the same market at 2.186/5. Both teams to score would have been a winning play when Celtic and Ferencvarosi last met.

Those after a slightly different bet may want to approach the stats from another angle and back over 2.5 goals at 1.784/5, under the same mark is 2.245/4.