Celtic will be looking to keep their hopes of earning a spot in the Europa League alive tonight when they face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
A 2-0 defeat at home to RB Leipzig in their last UEFA Champions League outing confirmed that Celtic could go no further in the European competition, leaving the Hoops bottom of Group F with just one point. With Shakhtar Donetsk in third on five points, Celtic will need to beat the Ukrainian side tonight and claim at least a point against Real Madrid for any hope of dropping down to the Europa League.
Celtic's one point so far this campaign came against tonight's opposition in the reverse fixture - a 1-1 draw in Warsaw. Ange Postecoglou's side enter tonight's game on the back of a dramatic 4-3 win over Hearts in the league.
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Callum McGregor and Stephen Welsh are the only guaranteed absentees for Celtic, whilst Carl Starfelt could return from his injury lay-off along with David Turnbull. Jota also returned to training this week, but he was only training alone as he builds up his fitness.
So, could Celtic find the first win of their Champions League group game tonight? We used FIFA 23 to try and predict the score, and this is what happened!
Celtic vs Shakhtar Donetsk score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the Celtic squad with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that the Hoops could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; Hatate, O'Riley; Adaba, Mooy, Haksabanovic; Furuhashi.
We predict that the visitors could set up in a 4-3-2-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Trubin; Mykhailichenko, Kryvtsov, Matviyenko, Konoplya; Nazaryna, Stepanenko, Sudakov; Zubkov, Mudryk; Sikan.
It was a bad start for Celtic, with a period of pressure from the visitors resulting in Shakhtar taking the lead through Mykhaylo Mudryk. But, the Hoops responded swiftly, and a quickfire double from Liel Abada saw Celtic go ahead on the 20-minute mark.
His first goal was the simpler of the two - some good work down the left saw Sead Haksabanovic break into the box and drill a ball across goal, leaving Abada the simple task of sliding in at the back post. For the second, the midfielder drifted centrally to offer Aaron Mooy support in the crowded box, and after receiving the ball just inside the area, the 21-year-old let fire, finding the top corner of the net.
Celtic held on to their lead going into the break, with Kyogo Furuhashi coming close twice in the opening 45. But, just nine minutes into the second half, the Hoops found a third and a fourth, with Furuhashi finding the net for both.
A long ball forward from Josip Juranovic found Furuhashi who peeled off the shoulder of his marker, sending the striker through on goal. As the 'keeper came off his line, the Japanese international drilled his shot through his legs and into the net.
A high press from the resulting kick-off saw Celtic regain possession, with Mooy blocking a pass out of defence and into the path of Furuhashi.
The striker skipped past one challenge before reaching the box, and a thunderous effort across goal rattled the inside of the post and nestled into the net. It was an incredible display from the Hoops in response to going behind, and Furuhashi grabbed his hat trick with 20 minutes remaining.
Haksabanovic was causing havoc on the left for Shakhtar, and a lovely piece of skill saw the midfielder flick the ball around his marker before clipping a pass into box. Furuhashi was on hand to meet the ball, sending a volley past the 'keeper at his near post.
Mooy got in on the action with five minutes remaining as the midfielder drilled a shot from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner after the visitors failed to clear a corner to make it 6-1 to Celtic. Lassina Traore was introduced at half time for Shakhtar, but two late yellow cards saw the striker sent off as the Hoops claimed an impressive win in Group F.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: Celtic 6-1 Shakhtar Donetsk.
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that Celtic could hit Shakhtar Donetsk for six on Tuesday night, with the simulation predicting a 6-1 victory for the Hoops. A fantastic attacking display handed Celtic the win, with the victory keeping up hope of a spot in the Europa League.
What do you think the score will be between Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk tonight? Let us know in the comments!
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