Anderlecht and Celtic in need of Group B lift-off

RSC Anderlecht and Celtic FC both need to get their UEFA Champions League campaigns back on track as they come head to head on matchday two – their first meeting since 2003/04.

• Group B opened with a defeat for both teams, Anderlecht going down 3-0 in Germany to FC Bayern München and Celtic suffering a record European home loss as they were dismantled 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain.

• Anderlecht parted company with coach René Weiler on 18 September.

Previous meetings
• The clubs' only past contests came in the 2003/04 group stage, when each won their home game although neither side was able to progress from Group A.

• The first match in Belgium finished 1-0 to Anderlecht, Aruna Dindane scoring 18 minutes from time for Les Mauves, who played 64 minutes with ten men after captain Glen De Boeck collected a second yellow card in the 26th minute. That is Anderlecht's only win against Scottish opponents from ten attempts.

• The line-ups at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 21 October 2003 were:
Anderlecht: Zítka, Deschacht, Kompany, De Boeck, Żewłakow, Baseggio, Kolář (Tihinen 90+1), Hasi, Wilhelmsson (Hendrikx 88), Mornar, Dindane.
Celtic: Hedman, Agathe, Baldé, Varga, McNamara (Valgaeren 46), Thompson, Lennon (Miller 80), Petrov, Larsson, Sutton, Hartson.

• Dindane was on target again at Celtic Park, striking in the 77th minute, but by then the hosts led 3-0 through goals from Henrik Larsson (12), Liam Miller (17) and Chris Sutton (29). That 3-1 victory proved crucial as Celtic edged out Anderlecht for third place in the section on head-to-head record after the duo ended level on seven points.

• Olivier Deschacht played in both games and is still in the Anderlecht squad.

Match background

Anderlecht
• Anderlecht are appearing in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 12th time in total. They qualified automatically after landing a 34th Belgian title last term.

• The Belgian champions have lost only one of their last seven home matches in European competition (W5 D1), going down 3-2 against AS Saint-Étienne on matchday six of last season's UEFA Europa League. However, they have won just one of their last seven home games in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, although that 2-0 success over Galatasaray AŞ in November 2014, their last fixture in the competition in Brussels, did end a six-match home losing run.

• In 2016/17, Anderlecht crashed out to FC Rostov in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Moving into the UEFA Europa League, they went all the way to the last eight – their first European quarter-final since losing to FC Internazionale Milano in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup – eventually bowing out to Manchester United FC (1-1 home, 1-2 away aet).

• Anderlecht have not faced Scottish opposition other than Celtic in 25 years, beating Hibernian FC on away goals in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round (2-2 away, 1-1 home).

• Anderlecht's overall record against Scottish sides is W1 D4 L5; at home it is W1 D2 L2. The Belgian team lost their first two home games against clubs from Scotland, but drew the next two before getting their sole win against Celtic in 2003.

Celtic
• The Glasgow club's other encounters with Belgian opponents came in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup first round, when they beat KFC Germinal Beerschot 3-1 on aggregate (2-0 home, 1-1 away); and against KAA Gent in the first round of the 1984/85 European Cup Winners' Cup, a tie that produced the same aggregate score (0-1 away, 3-0 home).

• Celtic's record in Belgium is therefore W0 D1 L2; they have won all three home matches.

• Celtic started this season in the second qualifying round, beating Linfield FC (2-0 away, 4-0 home) and then Rosenborg BK in the third qualifying round (0-0 home, 1-0 away). They posted a fifth straight clean sheet with a 5-0 win against FC Astana in the home first leg of their play-off, advancing despite a 4-3 loss in Kazakhstan which ended a four-game (W2 D2) unbeaten away record in Europe.

• The victory at Linfield broke Celtic's 11-match sequence without an away win in Europe (D6 L5).

• Scottish champions for a sixth consecutive campaign in 2016/17 – when they went through their domestic season unbeaten – Celtic are in the group stage for the tenth time.

• The Hoops have not won any of their last 16 European group stage fixtures in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League (D7 L9).

• In 2016/17 Celtic came fourth in their section, taking three points from six games. They suffered a record 7-0 loss at FC Barcelona but drew 1-1 at both VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach and Manchester City FC.

• Celtic's last victory in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, was a 2-1 home success against AFC Ajax on 22 October 2013. Their record since is D3 L7.

Coach and player links
• Boyata grew up in Brussels and was at FC Brussels from the age of 13 to 16 before joining Manchester City in 2006.

• Matz Sels, Leander Dendoncker and Boyata are international team-mates with Belgium.

• Andy Najar's Honduras earned a 1-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw against a Costa Rica side including Cristian Gamboa on 28 March 2017.

Match facts

Anderlecht
• Sven Kums serves a one-game ban following his red card against Bayern.

• Weiler – who guided Anderlecht to the 2016/17 Eerste Klasse title – left his role on 18 September, two days after a 2-2 draw at KV Kortrijk.

• In their first match under the interim control of Nicolás Frutos, David Sesa and Thomas Binggeli, Anderlecht triumphed 1-0 at KVC Westerlo in the Belgian Cup round of 32 on 20 September.

• Having won only two of their seven previous league games this season, Les Mauves et Blanc were 2-1 victors at Waasland-Beveren on Saturday.

• Henry Onyekuru has scored in three of Anderlecht's last five matches, four goals in total.

• Josué Sá, signed late in the summer transfer window from Vitória SC, made his Anderlecht debut against Westerlo.

Celtic
• Following Saturday's 2-0 Old Firm win at Rangers FC, Celtic are unbeaten in 57 domestic matches – the Hoops' last league defeat coming against Saint Johnstone FC in their penultimate fixture of 2015/16.

• Brendan Rodgers' side booked their place in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 victory at Dundee FC on 20 September, James Forrest scoring twice.

• Celtic will play Hibernian FC, managed by former Hoops midfielder and boss Neil Lennon, in the last four on 21/22 October. The Hibs squad also features erstwhile Celtic players Anthony Stokes, Efe Ambrose and Dylan McGeouch.

• Moussa Dembélé marked his return from a hamstring injury with a goal in Celtic's 4-0 win against Ross County FC on 16 September. It was his first outing since the visit of Linfield in mid-July.

• Boyata played 66 minutes against Dundee as he made his first competitive appearance of the campaign after recovering from a knee injury sustained in early July.

• Erik Sviatchenko and Koussi Eboué are still recovering from respective knee and ankle injuries.