Kilmarnock at Rugby Park just isn’t what it used to be.
It used to be a case of how many you would score. Four, five, or six? If Celtic really turned on the style the scoreline was a guaranteed embarrassment for the Ayrshire side.
Yet step forward Steve Clarke. The former West Brom manager has turned Killie from relegation fodder into genuine European challengers. There were even murmurs by some supporters about a potential title challenge.
Whilst that has faded away in recent weeks, Killie are still formidable. Brendan Rodgers has lost on his last two visits to Rugby Park too. Therefore, who’s going to be part of the Celtic team to halt that mini-rut?
The team
Scott Bain did absolutely nothing wrong in the 2-0 defeat to Valencia on Thursday night. His defence let him down badly, and he deserves to keep his place. The clean sheet record may be gone, but his domestic record of 12 consecutive shut-outs continues.
Jeremy Toljan didn’t make much of an impression on Thursday night either. But, at the moment, there’s simply no alternative to the on-loan Borussia Dortmund man. He should keep his place.
Jozo Simunovic may have started against Valencia, but Rodgers is likely to take him out due to the astroturf surface at Rugby Park. This could see Kristoffer Ajer partner Dedryck Boyata. It’s also likely the same reason Rodgers hasn’t risked Olivier Ntcham and Kieran Tierney too.
Emilio Izaguirre had his worst ever performance in a Celtic jersey against Valencia. But, we’re going to predict he gets a chance to get it out of his system today.
Scott Brown and Callum McGregor will start for us, as always.
James Forrest was one of the few to come out of Thursday night with pass marks. As usual in Europe, his driving runs and energy frightened the life out of Valencia. Unfortunately, it led to nothing, but Jimmy won’t be dropped anytime soon.
Ryan Christie and Scott Sinclair should also occupy the other two attacking midfield roles in behind the lone striker Oliver Burke.
Whilst Odsonne Edouard continues to build up his match-fitness, he’s likely to make an appearance at some point in the match. The same goes for Timothy Weah.
Here’s our full team prediction in list-form:
GK – Craig Gordon
RB – Jeremy Toljan
CB – Dedryck Boyata
CB – Kristoffer Ajer
LB – Emilio Izaguirre
CM – Scott Brown
CM – Callum McGregor
RM – James Forrest
CAM – Ryan Christie
LM – Scott Sinclair
ST – Oliver Burke
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