Celtic head to Easter Road this weekend in the Scottish Premiership as the Hoops aim to make it back-to-back wins from trips across the M8. There is a TV blackout for this one, but the support will make their way through to Leith in their droves.
A 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid midweek made for a positive result but on Saturday, nothing but a victory will be acceptable. Ahead of the match, we give you a predicted starting eleven.
Goalkeeper and Defence
Managing to save Antoine Griezmann’s penalty onto the post on Wednesday, Joe Hart will get the nod once again here. In front of him will be an undroppable centre-back pairing of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales.
Greg Taylor will begin at left-back with Alistair Johnston opposite him at right-back.
Midfield
Callum McGregor will captain the side at the base of the midfield and Matt O’Riley will aim to continue his spectacular form against the Hibees.
Completing the engine room trio will be Paulo Bernardo. He was impressive off the bench against Atletico, and with Reo Hatate experiencing a hamstring issue, the Portugal under-21 internationalist is bound to make his first Celtic start on Saturday.
Attack
It seems as though the front three Brendan Rodgers starts with is non-negotiable at the minute. Dropping Kyogo would be impossible and with his recent form, Luis Palma will keep his place in the team. Daizen Maeda is a key component to the side and will start yet again.
On the bench, there will be places for the likes of Nat Phillips, Oh, Yang, Odin Holm, David Turnbull, James Forrest, and Anthony Ralston. Rodgers will be hoping the services of these guys aren’t urgently needed at the weekend and that his team takes care of business early doors.
It will be an arduous task, but if the champions click into gear, there is no reason to suggest they cannot pick up a win that would be their manager’s first at Easter Road.
