Celtic have no fresh injury concerns coming into tonight’s match away to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, leaving manager Brendan Rodgers with a strong squad to choose from.
The Bhoys need a positive result in Madrid to keep their hopes of European football after Christmas alive.
It’s a tall order against an elite team that has started the season strongly, but Celtic did perform well against them in the first meeting between the two sides last month.
What kind of team will Rodgers go with for this one? There’s been a fair bit of rotation of late but you’d imagine he will go with what could be the strongest eleven available to him. Here’s our best go at tonight’s side…
Potential Celtic team vs Atletico Madrid
In goal, Joe Hart will get the nod. He remains well ahead of Scott Bain and the other goalkeepers in the Celtic squad.
Ahead of the shot-stopper, Alistair Johnston will likely return to the starting eleven after being rested against Ross County. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales will continue their partnership centrally. Greg Taylor is also a sure bet to retain his place in the side.
Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley will be two of the first names on the team sheet tonight. O’Riley was one of the players rested recently and should be fresh for this one. We’ll need him at peak form up against Atletico’s strong midfield.
Rodgers has a few options to accompany that duo, even with the injury to Reo Hatate. The man in form right now is David Turnbull. He’s been a key goal threat in recent matches and has earned a spot tonight, although Odin Holm, Paulo Bernardo and Tomoki Iwata are all potential picks depending on what kind of midfield Rodgers wants to field.
In attack, Luis Palma and Kyogo Furuhashi should return to the starting eleven alongside Daizen Maeda. That’s the strongest front three available to the manager right now with Hyunjun Yang, James Forrest and Mikey Johnston all available from the bench.
Your predicted XI in full is: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Turnbull, Maeda, Palma, Kyogo.
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