Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has predicted Celtic to overcome Italian giants Lazio in the Europa League.

The pair will face each other this Thursday in the third match of the group stages, with Celtic currently on four points and Lazio on three.

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Sport

Nicholas is unpopular amongst Celtic fans for his continued negative opinions about the club, but he surprisingly backed Neil Lennon’s men to win on Thursday. As quoted on Sky Sports, he said:

It is a cracking game. Celtic Park relishes these on European nights. Lazio are seventh in the Serie A but are tough defensively.

Odsonne Edouard enjoys these types of games, so he will want to play well and show his credentials. 

Lazio are well organised and are great on the counter-attack. The crowd are something else on these nights so I think Celtic could just nick it.

READ CELTIC VERDICT

Well this is a surprise! Do not scratch your eyes, Nicholas is actually backing Celtic and Edouard.

Do you think Celtic will win against Lazio?

Yes

No

Nicholas was recently criticised for hitting out at Edouard for not showing passion when celebrating, but it seems that the Frenchman’s recent form has led Nicholas to change his mind about him.

As always, Celtic will look to their home fans to push them over the line, just as they did against Cluj in their previous Europa League encounter.