Celtic will begin the second part of their Treble defence after they were drawn with Kilmarnock in the last 16 of the Viaplay League Cup this afternoon.
Brendan Rodgers’ men entered the draw as one of the seeded teams and now they face the prospect of defending the cup on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of August at Rugby Park.
The game is likely to be shown live on Viaplay as one of only two all-Premiership ties although we are likely to find out more details in the next few days when the broadcasting choice is made.
The full draw is as follows:
Hibernian v Raith Rovers
Stirling Albion v Aberdeen
Airdrieonians v Ross County
St Mirren v Motherwell
Rangers v Greenock Morton
Kilmarnock v Celtic
Hearts v Partick Thistle
Livingston v Ayr United
The League Cup holds a special place in Celtic’s history
Celtic have had incredible recent success in the league cup. The Parkhead club have lifted the trophy 21 times in total in their history. But over the last nine seasons, the Bhoys have lifted the trophy on no less than seven occasions.
The League Cup holds a special place in Celtic’s history. It was a trophy that was won by Wim Jansen in the famous season that Celtic stopped Rangers’ nine in a row. It could be argued that the trophy win that year inspired Jansen’s men to the league title as they tasted silverware for the first time since 1995.
It was also the first trophy of the Ange Postecoglou era and look how that season and the preceding one turned out for the former Celtic boss. Kyogo Furuhashi also has a great record in the competition as his goals against Hibs and Rangers in both finals in the last two years effectively won the cup single-handedly.
Indeed, it was Brendan Rodgers’ first trophy win in his maiden spell as the Celtic manager and the team went on to win an Invincibles Treble.
The Celtic players will also be desperate to keep their grip on Scottish football. The league cup offers them the first opportunity to lay a marker down for the rest of the season and no doubt, Brendan Rodgers, will be keen to pick up his first piece of silverware in his second spell as the Celtic boss.
In other news, Celtic’s Unique Angle shows Kyogo Furuhashi’s off-the-ball work that led to goal vs Wolves
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