Celtic are gearing up for their second Glasgow derby of the season. The Bhoys go into the game high on confidence after back-to-back wins over Livingston and Dundee.
Although there may be some players unavailable for the match, the lineup seems rather set. Particularly in attack, a front three of Luis Palma, Daizen Maeda, and Kyogo is nailed on despite Mikey Johnston’s brace at Dens Park.
With the two-wide men, Chris Sutton thinks manager Brendan Rodgers has a conundrum: “I sense a dilemma for Rodgers in terms of which sides to deploy Palma and Daizen Maeda”, he said (RecordSport). “The Rangers captain is a major threat from open play with his attacking work and the Japanese has the running power to stick with him and nullify some of that danger. But if he does switch left to combat that, Palma’s talent for stepping inside to play deft passes or strike for goal on his favoured right side would be lost.”
In recent matches, it has always been Palma who has played off the left. Although Maeda offers a lot defensively against one of Rangers’ key men, the threat of his Honduran teammate would be lessened if such a switch took place.
Palma will likely begin on the left as Celtic look to start fast with attacking intent however as the game goes on, swapping him with the more defensively sound Maeda could be an option Rodgers elects to go for. The positive thing is that such a switch can be made promptly in the game, without any hassle.
Whether Rodgers is required to make it remains to be seen, but it is within his and the team’s capabilities to move to a conservative, and slightly more defensively-minded, set-up.
