Ex-Celtic ace Timo Weah and a £28m striker: Lowdown on Lille ahead of Europa League clash

Lille's Turkish midfielder Yazici Yusuf celebrates scoring during the Europa League Group H match with Sparta Prague (Photo by MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images)

Both sides had contrasting starts to the section last week with Neil Lennon’s looking to get off the mark following a home defeat by AC Milan.

Here is the lowdown on Celtic's hosts tomorrow night.

Form

Timothy Weah spent time on loan at Celtic last year (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Lille are unbeaten this season and started their Europa League campaign with a 4-1 away win against Sparta Prague last week. They are second to Paris St Germain in Ligue 1 but only on goal difference after taking 18 points from eight matches.

HOW TO WATCH LILLE v CELTIC

European Pedigree

Lille were in the Champions League group stage last season but only took one point from a section including Valencia, Chelsea and Ajax. Their only run to the knockout stages was in 2006-07. They reached the last 16 of the Europa League 11 seasons ago before losing to Liverpool.

Key Players

The French side spent big in the summer, although they could not persuade Rangers to part with Alfredo Morelos. Veteran Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz has netted four league goals, outshining £27million signing Jonathan David, the 20-year-old Canadian forward, who has yet to find the net since arriving from Gent. Another Turk, Yusuf Yazici, is yet to start a league game this season but netted a hat-trick in Prague.

Manager

Christophe Galtier was a long-serving manager of St Etienne and led them to League Cup success, their first trophy for 30 years. He has been at Lille since 2017, leading them to second and fourth-place finishes in his first two full seasons in charge.