Manager Brendan Rodgers has named his Celtic team vs Hearts for today’s Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park.
The full match squad is as follows:
Starting XI – Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Kuhn, Forrest, Kyogo.
Substitutes – Bain, Palma, Idah, Yang, Nawrocki, Iwata, Bernardo, Maeda, Ralston.
With just four matches remaining in the league title race, this fixture has become one of the most important of the entire campaign so far.
Hearts have beaten Celtic in the previous two meetings between the clubs, so the Bhoys have a lot to prove in front of their own fans at Paradise.
Rodgers hasn’t made any changes to the side that beat Dundee at Dens Park last week. However, there is good news with Daizen Maeda’s return to the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Broadcast details
Today’s match is not being shown on TV in the UK or Ireland.
The only live coverage comes via Celtic TV’s club streaming service, available to worldwide subscribers outside of the region.
However, BBC Radio Scotland will be providing audio commentary across their platforms over the airwaves and online.
The verdict on Celtic team vs Hearts
Today’s line-up is exactly the same as the one predicted by 67 Hail Hail earlier, so there are no complaints at our end on the manager’s calls.
It was always a long shot for Maeda to return directly to the starting eleven. He’ll be used as a substitute in the second half to build match sharpness ahead of next week’s derby against Rangers.
Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest is the right combination to go with on the flanks in his absence.
Some fans have called for Liam Scales to be dropped but Rodgers would have made that decision by now. Scales will likely be in the team until the very last matchday.
We know this Celtic team has the quality to get the job done today if they show up and produce their best. That’s what everyone wants and needs to see.
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