Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Celtic will continue their pre-season schedule when they take on Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon in Wednesday's meeting at the Estadio Algarve.

While Celtic are preparing for their fourth friendly of the month, Sporting are set to officially kick off their preparations for the 2025-26 season. 

Match preview

Celtic enjoyed a successful 2024-25 campaign, even though they would have been disappointed to miss out on a domestic treble following a penalty-shootout defeat to Aberdeen in May's Scottish Cup final.

The Hoops finished 17 points clear of Rangers to lift the Premiership title for a fourth consecutive season, while they also got their hands on the Scottish League Cup with a win over their Old Firm rivals in December's final. 

After taking time to celebrate their double, Brendan Rodgers' side will now be focusing on the 2025-26 campaign, where they will be looking to challenge for all three domestic trophies, as well as bettering last season's knockout playoff round appearance in the Champions League. 

The Scottish champions made a winning start to their run of friendly fixtures with narrow victories over Queen's Park and Cork City, before they suffered their first defeat of pre-season in Saturday's meeting with Estrela Amadora at Benfica's training campus. 

Goals from Reo Hatate and Adam Idah could not stop Celtic from falling to a 3-2 defeat, meaning that they will be hungry to return to winning ways in Wednesday's clash with Sporting.

Once they face the Portuguese champions, Celtic will turn their focus to a meeting with Newcastle United in the Adidas Trophy and a semi-final game against Dutch giants Ajax in the Como Cup, which also features Serie A side Como and Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli. 

Sporting retained their Primeira Liga title last season despite losing head coach Ruben Amorim to Manchester United in November. 

Amorim's successor, Joao Pereira, lasted just eight matches before he was replaced by Rui Borges, who oversaw 18 victories in 29 matches to guide Sporting to a league and cup double.

There has been plenty of drama off the pitch since Sporting recorded a 3-1 extra-time victory in May's Taca de Portugal final, having seen star striker Viktor Gyokeres become the subject of a transfer saga this summer.

Gyokeres now appears to be on the verge of completing a move to Arsenal, leaving Sporting with the difficult task of replacing a prolific striker who has scored 97 goals in 102 appearances since his arrival from Coventry City in 2023.

While Gyokeres is set to leave Estadio Jose Alvalade, Sporting have bolstered their ranks with the permanent additions of Rui Silva, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Alisson Santos. 

Sporting will hope to kick off their preparations for the new season with a win over Celtic, before they face Sunderland and Villarreal in the lead-up to the Portuguese Super Cup clash with rivals Benfica on July 31. 

Celtic (friendlies):

W W W L

Team News

Experienced goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel could come into the Celtic side after missing the recent defeat to Estrela.

Kieran Tierney will be looking to get more minutes under his belt after starting in Saturday's friendly to make his first appearance since re-joining the club this summer.

Fellow summer additions, Benjamin Nygren and Hayato Inamura, could be among those to start in Wednesday's meeting at the Estadio Algarve. 

With Gyokeres working on his expected exit, Denmark international Conrad Harder should lead the line in Sporting's first official outing of pre-season.

Silva should feature between the posts after converting his loan move from Real Betis into a permanent transfer.

Kochorashvili and Santos could make their first appearances at some point in the contest, although Borges may opt for the tried and tested for Wednesday's starting lineup.

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Ralston, Scales, Inamura, Tierney; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Nygren, Maeda, Idah

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:

Silva; St. Juste, Inacio, Quaresma; Catamo, Debast, Hjulmand, Araujo; Trincao, Concalves, Harder

We say: Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Celtic

Celtic should be sharper than their opponents with three friendly matches already under their belt, while Sporting are yet to officially begin their preparations for the new campaign. 

However, the Portuguese side boast a wealth of talent, even without Gyokeres' services, and we think that they will begin their pre-season schedule with a narrow victory over the Scottish champions.

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