Celtic take on Dundee United at Tannadice today, returning to the scene of a 9-0 drubbing for the Taysiders the last time Ange Postecoglou’s side visited.
It’s unlikely to be that easy on this occasion though. United have improved since then and gave as good an effort at getting a result at Celtic Park as any Scottish side this season in the previous meeting between the two clubs.
Thankfully, Postecoglou has an enormous squad to choose from, with few injury concerns. What XI will he go for? Here’s our best go at the team today…
Joe Hart has been in excellent form of late, fully justifying his position as Celtic number one. He’s made crucial saves in recent matches against Kilmarnock and St Mirren – the expectation is that he’ll be tested at some stage today.
In defence is where we could see two major returns to the line-up after injury. Greg Taylor and Cameron Carter-Vickers have both been in training at Lennoxtown all week and should take their places alongside Carl Starfelt and Alistair Johnston.
In midfield, Callum McGregor is almost guaranteed to start but Postecoglou has plenty of options for the other two central spots.
Tomoki Iwata, David Turnbull and Matt O’Riley could all play a role but we’ve gone for a Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy combination, both of whom have been stand-outs over the last month.
Again, the manager has excellent options in attack so it’s hard to predict who he’ll go for beyond Kyogo Furuhashi. The dual threat of Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda could be particularly dangerous if United open up and decide to give it a go in front of their home fans, so they get our vote.
Abada and Kyogo have eight goals between them against Dundee United this season.
Jota is, of course, an option too, while new bhoy Hyeongyu Oh is expected to at least be on the bench.
Your predicted XI in full is: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Mooy, Hatate, Abada, Maeda, Kyogo.
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