Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers sold Kyogo in the January transfer window to Stade Rennais with no real striker replacement.
Kyogo wanted to leave and told club chiefs months in advance, but Celtic were not able to replace arguably the side’s greatest striker since Henrik Larsson.
The £10m sale was met with mixed responses from fans, but most pertinently about the hole that had been left in the first-team squad.
However, those worries have been quashed since the end of January with the emergence of Daizen Maeda playing in a more central role.
The Japanese machine has been utterly tremendous in the position having scored seven goals in six Premiership games since Kyogo’s departure.
But despite all of this, Chris Sutton would actually like to see Celtic’s Player of the Year contender Maeda back out on the wing against Rangers.
The former Celtic striker, writing in Daily Record column, thinks Maeda should go out to the left to keep Rangers captain James Tavernier occupied in both directions of play.
Tavernier has been terrorised by Maeda in many Glasgow derbies over the past few years and struggles to keep up with the 27-year-old’s dynamism and relentlessness.
Sutton understands Rodgers will play Maeda through the middle, but that could actually still mean he comes up against Tavernier because of how Barry Ferguson has shifted the Rangers captain into a centre-back role of late.
Sutton wrote: “I know there’s been some debate over who gets the nod up front and I get the temptation to keep Daizen Maeda out wide because he nullifies the threat of James Tavernier in attack and scares the wits out of the Rangers captain going the other way.
“I just can’t see Rodgers going for anything than Maeda though the middle though. His form up front has been sensational. Fans have practically forgotten about Kyogo because he’s been so prolific.
“That sale does sum up how little challenge Rangers have provided this season though. If there were two or three points in it back in January, there’s no way he’d be twiddling his thumbs on the Rennes bench right now.
“He’s old news and it’s Maeda the main man now. I’d expect him to be up front again on Sunday and that would allow Jota to play on the flank.”
Brendan Rodgers wants to avenge January derby loss
Sutton also mentioned that Celtic manager Rodgers will want to free himself from the pain suffered last time out against Rangers in January.
Celtic were soundly beaten 3-0 at Ibrox as the Hoops put in one of their worst performances in a Glasgow derby for some years.
It hasn’t really mattered much in the context of challenging for the Premiership title, but Sutton believes Rodgers will be full of motivation to right the wrongs.
Sutton said: “It shouldn’t be hard to get up for this one no matter what. If I was in that dressing room I’d see this as a chance to bury Rangers and get the title in the bag as soon as possible.
“They will also be desperate to right a few wrongs from Ibrox at Christmas. That was Celtic’s poorest performance of the season and it just seemed to come completely out of the blue.
“Back then Rangers were toiling and people were wondering how many they’d lose by. Instead, it was Philippe Clement’s last stand as his team ran riot. Fair play, they were terrific on the day and Celtic were way off it.
“You can forgive Celtic for that as those off days have been few and far between. Yet that is the kind of result and performance that sticks in the throat of Brendan Rodgers. You could see it at the weekend with his stuff about Rangers stealing Celtic’s game in Govan.
“He is rightly proud of his incredible derby record – and he’d love to put Rangers in their place again. This is the chance to make a statement, to show who is boss in Glasgow.”
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