Andy Halliday makes it clear who should start for Celtic at Rangers – Paulo Bernardo or Arne Engels

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Celtic have found their spark again after a few rusty performances.

There have been a few games, both in Europe and on the domestic stage, where performances have slumped, but the results have still been delivered.

But like all champions do, it hasn’t taken Celtic too long to get going again on all fronts and now they head into the Glasgow derby riding a wave.

Brendan Rodgers has some big calls to make for the Ibrox trip, as a win would see those in green and white go 17 points clear at the top of the Premiership table.

One of the reasons for this is the depth in quality within Celtic’s squad and how this is probably the best crop of players Rodgers has ever worked with during his time at Parkhead.

One of the calls he will have to make is who will start in Celtic’s midfield alongside the skipper, Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate.

The two men fighting for a spot are Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels.

Andy Halliday backs Paulo Bernardo to start over Arne Engels for Celtic’s trip to Rangers

Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday has come up against the Celtic midfield duo this season, so he understands and feels the strength of both players first-hand.

Halliday stated that it’s Bernardo who should start in the middle against Rangers and how he has been having a ‘very good’ season for Celtic, without being handed the opportunities being afforded to Engels, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.

Bernardo was on loan at Celtic last season, so the 22-year-old has had that settling-in period that his teammate is now experiencing.

“For me, the strongest trio includes Paulo Bernardo,” said Halliday. “I would include Paulo Bernardo over Arne Engels. Yes, he has had a good performance over the weekend there.

“But I think Paulo Bernardo has had a very good season for Celtic. Probably not had the opportunities that Arne Engels has had. I thought Arne Engels has been okay in recent weeks. Got the penalty goal against ourselves on Boxing Day. He had a good performance at the weekend there.

“But, for me, I have been impressed with Paulo Bernardo any time he has had a Celtic jersey on. If I am being completely honest, I think in the League Cup final, when he came onto the pitch, I thought Arne Engels struggled during that period in the game. Yes, he got the telling assist with Nicolas Kuhn to make it 3-2 with three minutes to go. But I thought he struggled with the pace of the game at that point in time. He’s very, very young. I have said it previously, I think he has so many attributes. He is a big powerful boy. He clearly has technical ability. Been on penalties, free-kicks and corners. His delivery for Maeda’s goal as well. I think, as of now, if I am saying ‘what’s Celtic’s midfield’. I think Paulo Bernardo is in it.”

Bernardo v Engels stats for Celtic this season

The advantage Bernardo has over Engels is the fact that he has started and tasted this derby before, as well as playing at Ibrox.

You wonder if Rodgers will add that into his thinking when he is deciding the final XI because Engels is hitting his best form right now.

But, over the course of the campaign, Bernardo has been rated higher than Engels in the Premiership at 7.12 by WhoScored, whilst the latter is fairing better in Europe.