Celtic vs Bayern Munich predicted lineups and team news | OneFootball

Bayern Munich travel to Celtic Park to take on Celtic in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase play-off on Wednesday.

The game is being shown live on TNT Sports 2 with an 8pm kick off.

Celtic vs Bayern Munich predicted line-ups

Celtic (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylo; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Maeda, Idah, Jota

Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Boey, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane

Celtic vs Bayern Munich team news

Brendan Rodgers has been blessed with having very few injury problems heading into this huge fixture. Only James Forrest is unavailable due to injury, having been out since January with a foot issue.

There has been another boost with Daizen Maeda now available. The Japanese winger had been suspended due to a red card, but saw his two-match ban reduced to one game, which he has already served. Maeda has made 34 appearances this season, scoring 21 goals and providing eight assists.

Vincent Kompany is set to be without Hiroki Ito, Daniel Peretz and Joao Palhinha who all missed Bayern’s weekend clash against Werder Bremen for various reasons.

However, the Belgian coach could have some good news for his squad ahead of their Champions League tie. Both Alphonso Davies and Serge Gnabry are on the verge of returns, which could see them make the bench against Celtic.

High flying Bayern

Kompany’s Bayern Munich side are averaging the third-most goals in the Champions League this season, scoring 2.5 goals per 90 minutes. Only Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona have averaged more goals. The German giants also rank as the highest “big chance” creators in the competition, averaging 3.63 big chances created per 90.

The front four consisting of Michael Olise on the right, Jamal Musiala in attacking midfield, Harry Kane up front and one of Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane or Serge Gnabry on the left has incredible balance. They have a good mix of creators (Olise, Musiala and Kane when dropping deeper) with runners (Davies, Sane/Coman) to stretch the pitch and open things up.

Much of this fixture is expected to be played with Bayern Munich on the front foot, pinning Celtic in their own half and sustaining attacks. Celtic average 17.63 possessions won in the middle third, 17.13 possessions won in their defensive third, and only 3.25 possessions won in the final third per 90 in the Champions League. This shows their preference to sit in their shape and defend in their own half before looking to hit teams on the break.

If Bayern do manage to pin Celtic back and take control of the game, it will be extremely tough for the Scottish Champions to keep them out with the large array of attacking talent, being the Champions League’s third highest scorers and highest “big chance” creators this season.