Celtic Face Benfica With Carter-Vickers a Major Doubt

Celtic are scheduled to face Benfica in Lisbon on Thursday, October 15, with defender Cameron Carter-Vickers a major doubt and several other players unlikely to be available. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. BST at Estádio da Luz, as Celtic return to the Europa League league phase for their second match. Manager Martin O’Neill said Carter-Vickers had suffered a strain. The defender missed Celtic’s 2-0 domestic win over Motherwell and remains a major doubt for the Benfica fixture, according to the team information released ahead of the match. Winger Jota returned at the weekend after an 18-month absence caused by an anterior cruciate ligament injury. He will not feature in Lisbon, however, because he was left out of Celtic’s European squad. Defender Alistair Johnston and forward Callum Osmand are nearing returns from hamstring problems, but both are considered unlikely to be ready for Thursday’s game. Their availability, alongside Carter-Vickers’s status, will shape the options available to O’Neill. The match is scheduled to be shown live on TNT Sports 3, with coverage beginning an hour before kickoff. It is also listed for streaming on HBO Max in the United Kingdom and Ireland.