Celtic v Borussia Mönchengladbach: Likely line-ups, kick-off time, where to watch

Celtic will go in search of their first victory in this season's Champions League group stage when they host German side Borussia Mönchengladbach tonight.

The Gladbach players train on the Celtic Park pitch ahead of tonight's game. Picture: SNS

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It’s a crucial game for both sides as they look to keep their slim hopes alive of usurping either Barcelona or Manchester City and qualifying for the knockout stages. Even if such an ambition ultimately falls short, a victory would go a long way to securing third place in the group, which would mean European football after Christmas in the form of the Europa League.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s match...

Likely line-ups.

Kick-off: 7.45pm

Where to watch: BT Sport/ESPN (programme starts at 7pm)

Likely Celtic team: Gordon; Lustig, Toure, Sviatchenko, Tierney; Bitton, Brown; Forrest, Rogic, Sinclair; Dembele. Subs from: Gamboa, Simunovic, O’Connell, Armstrong, Roberts, Ciftci, Griffiths, Izaguirre, Christie, McGregor, De Vries.

Unavailable: Kris Commons and Efe Ambrose are not included in Celtic’s squad.

Likely line-ups.

Team news: Mikael Lustig and Nir Bitton have both returned to training since missing the win over Motherwell on Saturday. They have both shaken off knocks sustained on international duty and are expected to start. Tom Rogic will likely return after being rested on Saturday following his return from playing for Australia.

Likely Gladbach team: Sommer; Elvedi, Vestergaard, Jantschke; Wendt, Kramer, Dahoud, Traore; Hofmann; Stindl, Hahn. Subs from: Sippel, Herrmann, Korb, Strobl, Sow, Schulz, Jantschke, Ndenge, Rizzo

Unavailable: Andreas Christensen and is definitely out through injury, while there are major doubts of four other stars.

Team news: Josip Drmic, Raffael and Thorgan Hazard, younger brother and former Chelsea team-mate of Eden Hazard, are all unlikely to make the match against Celtic through injury. Wing-back Fabian Johnson is a similar doubt after picking up a knock at the weekend.

Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (Greece)

Key Celtic player: Moussa Dembele is the name on everyone’s lips right now, but after his impressive display against Manchester City, he’ll need to show that he can handle the weight of expectation.

Key Gladbach player: Andre Hahn had his face burst open at the weekend as his side drew at home to Hamburg. With Raffael expected to miss the match, Hahn’s pace and power will be vital to the visitors attack if they’re going to leave with three points and get their European campaign back on track.

Last meeting: The clubs have never met in a competitive match. The last friendly meeting occurred in 2013 with Gladbach winning 2-1.

What Celtic are saying: “We’re here to win, tomorrow night in particular. Our home games we want to ensure we can get a victory. I think we always felt if we could be in European football after Christmas then that would be fantastic.” (Brendan Rodgers)

What Gladbach are saying: “With no points from two matches, there’s a lot riding on our two games with Celtic. We need to get something from the game in Glasgow if we want to reach the knockout stages. If we pick up four points from the two games, it would be an outstanding return.” (Andre Hahn)

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