Celtic travel to Rome this evening to take on Lazio on matchday five of the UEFA Champions League.
Needing a victory to keep their hopes of post-Christmas European football alive, Brendan Rodgers’ side have a tough task ahead of them in front of a big home crowd at the Stadio Olimpico.
Luis Palma is suspended for the encounter having picked up a second group stage yellow card against Atletico Madrid in the 6-0 defeat last time out while Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada remain injured. Maeda also would have been suspended for the encounter had he been fit.
James Forrest will return to the match squad after his absence at the weekend but the manager will have to make a big call on his starting attack ahead of kick-off.
What team will he go with? Here’s our best go at a predicted XI for tonight’s match…
Predicted Celtic team vs Lazio
Joe Hart will continue in goal with no sign of Scott Bain or Benjamin Siegrist replacing him as the number one goalkeeper. Ahead of him, there is likely to be one change to the back four that faced Motherwell on Saturday.
Alistair Johnston will come into the starting eleven having been rest, replacing Anthony Ralston with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Greg Taylor likely to complete the backline.
In midfield, Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley are certain starters but who completes the central three is up for serious debate. Rodgers has yet to settle on any of David Turnbull, Odin Thiago Holm or Paulo Bernardo to consistently replace Hatate.
Bernardo has featured in every Champions League match so far and started the previous match away to Atletico, so may well be the pick again tonight. Turnbull offers the most attacking threat but Rodgers has been hesitant to use him in Europe. Meanwhile, Holm has been hooked at half-time on both of his recent starts.
In attack, it gets even trickier. Hyunjun Yang is a likely starter having been trusted in by the manager in recent weeks but with Maeda, Abada and Palma unavailable it’s a toss-up on who starts between Forrest and Mikey Johnston.
Starting Johnston is far from ideal but he is naturally left-sided so may well be the pick. Rocco Vata played with the B team in the UEFA Youth League this afternoon so won’t feature while Marco Tilio isn’t registered for the European squad.
Kyogo Furuhashi is almost certain to be the central pick, with Hyeongyu Oh available if needed – either to change formation or directly replace Kyogo.
Your Predicted XI in full is: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Bernardo, O’Riley, Yang, Johnston, Kyogo.
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