Celtic start as underdogs when they take on Rennes in Group I of the Europa League on Thursday evening. William Hill price the Scottish side at odds of 19/5 for the clash at the Route de Lorient Stadium and they come up against a Rennes team who have been formidable at home, with Hills making them favourites at industry best priced odds of 8/11.
Neil Lennon's men have endured a tough season so far and they are fortunate to still be in European competition after they received a late place in the group stages following FC Sion's exclusion.
Celtic have failed to make the most of their addition to the tournament so far as they have picked up just one point from two matches, although Rennes too have only the one point, which makes this match a real crunch clash.
Rennes star as firm favourites as they are unbeaten in eight European matches at home since 2007 and they are unbeaten at home in all competitions this season, scoring in all of them. That run has seen them rise to fifth in the French Ligue 1 and Celtic will have to be on their guard against Victor Montano.
The Colombian striker has scored five goals this term and he looks very tempting at industry best priced odds of 5/1 to be first scorer with Hills.
It is defensively that Rennes have been most impressive though as they have conceded only two goals in their last six European matches at home, with Hills going 19/20 that they keep a clean sheet against Celtic and 17/10 that they win to nil.
Six of their last eight matches have involved under 2.5 goals, as have four of Celtic's last five, with under 2.5 goals 7/10 on this week. For a bit more value it could be worth a look at WilliamHill.com's 'match x goals' market, where the Rennes win and under 2.5 goals in the match can be backed at odds of 12/5.
Meanwhile, Celtic will be desperate to reverse a run of form that has seen them fail to win in their last three matches in all competitions and pick up only one win in their last five away from home.
A 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock at the weekend left them third in the Scottish Premier League and only Anthony Stokes seems to travel particularly well for the Hoops. Stokes scored two against Killie to take his tally to five for the season, four of which have been scored away from Parkhead. Hills offer 9/1 that Stokes scores first against Rennes, while the 10/3 for him to score anytime looks a decent punt.
Celtic have lost five of their last seven European away matches and have failed to win their last six (discounting the default win over FC Sion), while they have failed to win on their last five trips to France - a run that stretches back to 1966. It is tough to see that run ending here and the correct score of 2-0 to Rennes at 7/1 wouldn't be a huge surprise.
Rennes v Celtic Form
Check the season's statistics for both Rennes and Celtic plus the odds ahead of Thursday's match.
Rennes v Celtic Tips
Tip #1: 'Match x goals' bet of a Rennes win and under 2.5 goals in the match @ 12/5 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #2: Anthony Stokes to score anytime @ 10/3 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #3: Victor Montano to score first @ 5/1 with WilliamHill.com
Match Betting
8/11 Rennes
13/5 Draw
19/5 Celtic
Correct Score Odds
11/2 Rennes 1-0
7/1 Rennes 2-0
15/2 Rennes 2-1
17/2 Draw 0-0
13/2 Draw 1-1
18/1 Draw 2-2
11/1 Celtic 1-0
25/1 Celtic 2-0
14/1 Celtic 2-1
First Goalscorer Odds
5/1 Victor Montano
5/1 Youssef Hadji
7/1 Jonathan Pitroipa
7/1 Gary Hooper
7/1 Julien Feret
7/1 No Goalscorer
9/1 Anthony Stokes
9/1 Mohamed Bangura
9/1 Kris Commons
10/1 Georgios Samaras
11/1 Alexander Tettey
Odds supplied by WilliamHill.com, who provide a variety of betting markets for this week's Europa League matches, including live betting in-running.
Posted: Wednesday, 19th October 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: europa league, rennes, celtic, anthony stokes, william hill,
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