Second Battle of Britain a possibility

Celtic and Liverpool could be set for a ‘Battle of Britain’ showdown in today’s UEFA Cup fourth-round draw in Geneva.

O’Neill and Celtic have already seen off the challenge of one English side in Blackburn in the second round, and could now face another in Liverpool.

Gerard Houllier’s Reds are among the four seeded teams in group two, which also includes Porto, Stuttgart and Panathinaikos, while Martin O’Neill’s Hoops are unseeded along with Anderlecht, Auxerre and Denizlispor.

Liverpool reached the last 16 with a 2-0 aggregate victory over Vitesse Arnhem, following up their 1-0 win in Holland with a repeat score at Anfield last night courtesy of Michael Owen’s 18th-minute winner.

Celtic, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 by Celta Vigo in Spain, but John Hartson’s 37th-minute equaliser was enough to see the reigning Scottish Premier League champions through on the away-goals rule.

In group one, Lazio, AEK Athens, Slavia Prague and Hertha Berlin, who knocked out Fulham last night, are the seeded clubs, with the unseeded sides being Boavista, Besiktas, Wisla Krakow and Leeds‘ conquerors Malaga.

UEFA will also make the quarter-final draw immediately after they have paired up the fourth-round ties. which means even if Liverpool and Celtic miss one another in the last 16, there is still a chance they could meet in the last eight.