The Celtic USA tour continues tonight with a match against English Premier League champions Manchester City at Kenan Stadium.
The Bhoys eased to a 4-0 victory against Major League Soccer side DC United at the weekend thanks to a double from the in-demand Matt O’Riley, as well as goals from James Forrest and Mikey Johnston.
Despite a step up in the quality of opposition, the entire exercise remains about fitness and building towards the start of the Scottish Premiership season at the start of next month.
Cameron Carter-Vickers could return to the match squad after joining up for training late last week, while new signing Kasper Schmeichel is now also involved in preparations.
Maik Nawrocki remains unavailable with a calf complaint. Daizen Maeda wasn’t in the match squad for DC United but was with the group at yesterday’s open training session.
Potential Celtic team vs Man City
I reckon there’s a good chance we see Viljami Sinisalo in from the start tonight. He got 45 minutes under his belt on Saturday and will be keen for more with the potential of a busier evening. Scott Bain and Schmeichel are contenders for the other half.
Brendan Rodgers named Colby Donovan and Matthew Anderson against United but they are likely to be switched out. Greg Taylor and Anthony Ralston could do with a good 45 minutes or even an hour to build up their readiness.
Liam Scales and Stephen Welsh could pair up in the heart of defence, allowing Cameron Carter-Vickers to play for 30 minutes in the second half.
In midfield, it’d be nice to see captain Callum McGregor make a start. Tomoki Iwata and Reo Hatate both played an hour at the weekend so the manager might rotate in another such as Odin Holm alongside Matt O’Riley, but the safe bet is one of the Japanese stars.
Nicolas Kuhn and Luis Palma were both sharp as starters in the last fixture. You wouldn’t argue against them getting the nod again alongside Kyogo Furuhashi.
As always during these summer matches there’ll be mass substitutions throughout regardless of who is named in the initial line-up.
Your predicted XI in full is: Sinisalo, Ralston, Welsh, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Kuhn, Palma, Kyogo.
How to watch Celtic vs DC United, kick-off time
There’s been a bit of confusion about the kick-off time for this one. It’s listed as 00:30 UK time (19:30 local) on Google and the Man City website.
However, Celtic have it kicking off at 00:00, as do the organisers FC Series.
I believe kick-off is at 00:30.
Fans at home will have to shell out for a Celtic TV subscription for an official stream with Man City service City+ also carrying coverage.
The match is being shown on many channels around the world including ESPN+ in the USA. A full list of global broadcasters can be found via LiveSoccerTV.
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