Celtic have been boosted by the news that Gabriel Paulista could miss Valencia’s trip to Parkhead on Thursday night.
The La Liga giants’ £10million man has picked up a thigh injury in training, according to the Scottish Sun. The injury will definitely see him miss today’s clash with Real Sociedad. He’s to be assessed afterwards before a final decision is made on his Parkhead availability.
The injury would be a timely boost for the Hoops. Gabriel has featured in 27 matches for Valencia this term – making himself one of the first names on the team-sheet.
If he does miss out for the La Liga outfit, he’ll join Geoffrey Kondogbia on the sidelines. Goncalo Guedes returns to action for the Spaniards today, but whether he’s fit enough to play so soon again on Thursday is doubtful.
Of course, Celtic still have more pressing matters of their own. As their injury list continues to heal ahead of today’s Scottish Cup clash against St Johnstone, big names still miss out.
Celtic have injury problems of their own
The Hoops have the likes of Filip Benkovic, Kieran Tierney, and Olivier Ntcham could all be missing Thursday night. Added to that, Dedryck Boyata has only just returned.
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Rodgers is hopeful over the availability of James Forrest for the La Liga side’s visit. If he misses out, however, Oliver Burke or Timothy Weah will likely be the easy replacements.
Both sides certainly have their injury concerns heading into this one. With the pair also playing different fixtures this afternoon, it’ll be intriguing to see if there is any other injury news for either.
Celtic know they’ll be in for an extremely tough night at Parkhead regardless of injury concerns, however. Valencia have managed to get themselves back on track with regards to their form. They’ve lost just one of their last eight matches, and are scoring goals at an alarming rate.
So any potential injury set-back has to be considered a bonus for a Celtic side who’ll be really up against it this Thursday.