Georgios Samaras rises highest to hand Celtic a priceless winner in the reverse fixture of this match back in October.

Team News:

Celtic:

• Celtic will be without their captain Scott Brown for the all-important clash with Spartak Moscow on Wednesday night.
• The midfielder picked up a hip injury in Celtic’s recent 1-1 draw with Arbroath, and will play no part in the match at Celtic Park.
• Influential Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama will also miss out through suspension, after being booked in Celtic’s 2-1 loss against Benfica last time around.
• Beram Kayal is likely to fill in in central midfield, partnering Kris Commons.
• Georgios Samaras will start up front once again for Celtic, the Greek striker is looking for his 6^th European goal this season.

Spartak Moscow:

• Spartak manager Valeri Karpin is likely to make a few changes to the side that were thumped 4-2 by Zenit St Petersburg.
• Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady came on as a substitute in that match and impressed greatly – he may be given a starting place against his former club on Wednesday.
• Juan Manuel Insaurralde and Nicolas Pareja were both sent off in that match against Zenit, but are likely to start at Celtic Park.
• Emmauel Emenike will start alone up front for the Russian side, and will look to add to his tally of 3 European goals this season. Two of those goals were against Celtic in the reverse fixture of this match.

Domestic Form Guide (Last 5 Matches)

Celtic: W-L-W-D-D                              Spartak Moscow:  L-L-D-W-W

Head to Head (Last 3 Matches)

These sides have met 3 times in European competitions in their histories, in which time Spartak Moscow have never mustered a victory over Celtic. The only season that they met before this campaign was in 2007/08, whereby Celtic recorded a 4-3 victory on penalties after two draws between the sides in a Champions League play-off to reach the group stage.

When the teams met in the Champions League this season, a last minute Georgios Samaras strike earned Celtic 3 crucial group points in Russia. Gary Hooper opened the scoring for Celtic before an Emmanuel Emenike double turned the game on its head at the start of the second half. Dmitri Kombarov’s own goal drew the sides level, before Samaras stole the headlines in the 90^th minute to hand Celtic the win.

The Stats:

• Celtic are currently top of the SPL having taken 28 points from their 15 matches.
• The Scottish giants’ last three Champions League games have finished 2-1 – a win and loss against Barcelona, and a defeat in their last match against Benfica.
• The hosts won this competition back in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final in Lisbon.
• Celtic and Benfica sit level on points in Group G, the Scottish side must better Benfica’s result to qualify for the knockout stages.
• Spartak Moscow currently sit eighth in the Russian Premier League table, having taken 29 points from their 18 matches. 
• Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald, and former Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko were on the score sheet the last time that these sides met at Celtic Park – in a 1-1 draw.

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