- Celtic are 19th in the standings with nine points from their six games
- Young Boys have scored in their last three Champions League matches
- Recommended bet: Celtic to win and both teams to score

A place in the knockout stages of the Champions League is within touching distance for Celtic, who entertain Young Boys in their penultimate match of the league phase on Wednesday.

The Bhoys head into Matchday Seven sitting 19th in the standings and a victory could be enough to secure their progress through to at least the knockout phase play-offs with a game to spare.

Brendan Rodgers will certainly fancy his side's chances of securing a positive result against a Young Boys team who are yet to pick up a point in this season's competition and who prop up the standings as a result.

Team news

Experienced winger James Forrest is Celtic's only confirmed injury absentee as he continues to struggle with a foot issue.

However, a trio of players are not expected to feature on Wednesday due to ongoing transfer speculation, with Alex Valle, Maik Nawrocki and Luis Palma all being linked with moves away from Parkhead.

Ex-Celtic full-back Saidy Janko is one several Young Boys players set to miss this trip to Glasgow, with Christian Fassnacht and Facinet Conte also sidelined and Abdu Conte a doubt due to a knock.

The stats

Celtic are unbeaten at home this season, winning 16 of their 18 matches at Parkhead across all competitions, while they have taken seven points from a possible nine on their own patch in the Champions League.

The last team to beat the Bhoys in their own backyard was Hearts, who claimed a 2-0 Scottish Premiership success at Parkhead in December 2023.

Young Boys have won just one of their last nine away matches in all competitions and they currently sit ninth in the Swiss Super League standings.

This will be the first time these two sides have ever met, although Celtic did claim a comfortable 6-0 aggregate success the last time they came up against Swiss opposition – seeing off Sion in qualifying for the 2011-12 Europa League.

Prediction

Celtic have not been at their fluent best domestically of late, but with such a gap between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of the Scottish Premiership standings, it is fair to assume much of their focus has been on this game.

Reaching the knockout stages would have been the goal for Celtic at the start of the season and they will be keen to potentially wrap up their progress with victory on Wednesday, with an away match at Aston Villa to come on Matchday Eight.

A home clash with Young Boys is certainly the ideal fixture on paper, with the Swiss champions having lost all six of their games in this season's competition, conceding 22 goals in the process, while they are also struggling domestically.

This is a game Celtic should win, but they have conceded in all their Champions League home games this season and that pattern could continue.

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