We’re less than a week away from Celtic taking to the pitch again after the international break and it will be the start of a gruelling schedule for Brendan Rodgers and the Bhoys.
The Scottish champions will face a gauntlet of 11 matches in just 38 days, with just one free mid-week until they sign off against St Mirren on January 2nd for the winter break.
It’s a period that will tell us a lot about how this season is going to turn out. The European group stage campaign will come to a conclusion and nine games in the Scottish Premiership will have a significant say in who the title favourites are heading into the new year.
Here’s everything you need to know for the six weeks ahead.
Celtic’s next 11 games
The full schedule is (UK Times):
25/11 – Motherwell (H), 3pm
28/11 – Lazio (A), 5:45pm
03/12 – St Johnstone (A), 12pm
06/12 – Hibernian (H), 7:45pm
10/12 – Kilmarnock (A), 12pm
13/12 – Feyenoord (H), 8pm
16/12 – Hearts (H), 3pm
23/12 – Livingston (H), 3pm
26/12 – Dundee (A), 3pm
30/12 – Rangers (H), 12:30pm
02/01 – St Mirren (A), 5pm
Broadcast details
Both of Celtic’s remaining UEFA Champions League games against Lazio and Feyenoord will be shown live on TNT Sport.
A further five of the Premiership games will also be broadcast live on television. The trips to St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, Dundee and St Mirren will be shown on Sky Sports Football, as will the massive derby at home to Rangers on 30th December.
Celtic injuries and squad depth
Rodgers will be without several key players for the majority, if not all, of the matches listed. Both Liel Abada and Reo Hatate are expected to be out of action until the new year.
Meanwhile, Daizen Maeda will miss the majority of December – though the manager has indicated he could be in contention for that game against Rangers.
Thankfully, the rest of the squad is fighting fit at the moment and a lot of players will be needed to navigate an extended period of matches every three or so days.
Player such as Hyeongyu Oh, Hyunjun Yang, David Turnbull and Paulo Bernardo are well-placed to get more minutes in a Celtic shirt, in support of established starters.
Predicting Celtic’s tough run of fixtures
At this point, emerging from the Champions League group with a victory would be a major bonus for Celtic. Securing European football after Christmas looks a remote possibility unless the Bhoys surprise everyone and win in Rome – even then, things have to fall our way.
Nonetheless, the home match against Feyenoord is the perfect chance to end the campaign with some pride intact and deliver that elite European win every Celtic fan is craving.
As for the league – it may be unrealistic to expect all 27 points from the nine matches but we know that Celtic can string together that kind of form.
The Bhoys can’t afford to drop too many points in the build-up to that derby which remains a must-win affair. And you’d back Rodgers’ side to get that job done.
If Celtic do drop points over the coming period, away trips to Kilmarnock and St Mirren look the most precarious.
If Rodgers’ side have a healthy points advantage over Rangers heading into the break, everyone will be happy.
In other news, The Liam Scales verdict as Celtic defender takes on difficult Dutch attack in Amsterdam.
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