Predicted Celtic XI vs St Johnstone: Klimala starts, Jullien to return

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After a successful midweek trip to Sarajevo, it’s back to Premiership action for Celtic, as Neil Lennon’s side take on struggling St Johnstone, who are at the wrong end of the table.

Celtic will be big favourites for the game which kicks off at noon on Sunday. A victory would take the Hoops top of the league before Rangers take on Ross County.

There can be no slip-ups in Perth, as after the international break Celtic’s first game back is against Rangers. So the team know what is at stake.

Here is the team we predict will start the game and will propel the Hoops to an eighth successive win in all competitions.

The Hoops will play in the usual 3-5-2 formation.

Performed well in vital win

In goals, Vasilis Barkas will continue, and he should be encouraged by a good performance in the 1-0 win over Sarajevo.

In front of him will be the usual duo of Shane Duffy and Kristoffer Ajer. Beside them, we expect Christopher Jullien to make his return to the side after a few weeks out. After all, he had been a Hoops regular up until then.

At wing-back Greg Taylor and Jeremie Frimpong have made the positions their own in recent weeks. We expect that to continue against St Johnstone.

Veteran has played well recently

In the middle of the park, Scott Brown, who has been excellent in the last two games, and Callum McGregor will continue. Mohamed Elyounoussi has played well in the last few games. That should earn him a start playing further forward in the middle of the park.

Now we come to the interesting parts. Firstly, Ryan Christie will keep playing in his role as a second striker. However, playing in the main striker role, we expect Odsonne Edouard to be on the bench, and Patryk Klimala to make only his third start for the Hoops.

We know that Neil Lennon likes the player. He has featured regularly this season. Therefore, why not give him a chance against one of the poorer teams in the division? If it doesn’t work out for Klimala, either Edouard or maybe even Leigh Griffiths can take his place.

Predicted XI: Vasilis Barkas, Christopher Jullien, Shane Duffy, Kristoffer Ajer, Jeremie Frimpong, Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Ryan Christie, Patryk Klimala.

In other news, Rab Douglas was impressed with Celtic loanee Jonathan Afolabi’s Dundee debut.