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Celtic start their route to the Champions League with a trip to the rocky terrain of Gibraltar to face the Lincoln Red Imps.
Lincoln, who have already beaten Flora Tallinn of Estonia, go into the tie against the Hoops as overwhelming underdogs.
On the flip side, the Rodgers Revolution should start against the minnows of Gibraltar as he hopes to try to end the tie in the first leg.
Rodgers, who has introduced a new system and new pressing style, will be aiming for his side to improve on their pre-season friendly results.
Celtic Form Pre-Season: DWWD
Rodgers will look for his side to score goals in the first-leg and may play both Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele up front as opposed to the 4-3-3 system which has been deployed in the friendlies.
The goalkeeper and back four look likely to remain, but the real question is at the heart of the midfield.
During the pre-season matches, Rodgers has opted for three more conservative players (those being Scott Brown, Nir Bitton and Stefan Johansen) who are solid in midfield but thus far haven’t offered an attacking threat.
The Hoops boss could blood in some attacking players in the middle of the park, such as Tom Rogic or Scott Allan into the starting XI, both of which have impressed during pre-season.
Lincoln Red Imps
On the back of a historic win for the Gibraltar side, the Lincoln Red Imps will aim to stifle the Hoops and stop them from playing free-flowing football. A small advantage to the home side will be their artificial surface, which isn’t in the best condition.
Having lost their away tie 2-1, they were able to use the surface to their advantage and ran out 2-0 winners against Flora. Aside from the surface, some Scotland fans will remember Lee Casciaro, who famously netted Gibraltar’s first ever competitive International goal in the 6-1 defeat at Hampden last year.
Lee Casciaro is also one-third of Casciaro brothers who all play for the Lincoln Red Imps. His brothers, Ryan and Kyle, have featured alongside Lee in both qualifiers this season.
Team News
Celtic will be without Logan Bailly and Stefan Johansen who both picked up injuries out in Slovenia. They join Jozo Simunovic & Dedryck Boyata on the sidelines, with both still out with long-term injuries. Gary Mackay-Steven is also recovering from surgery during the offseason.
The Lincoln Red Imps squad are injury free, however, and have a full squad to pick from.