Celtic take a break from league duty this weekend as they lay the groundwork in training to face Livingston in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Brendan Rodgers has never lost in the competition, which holds a special place at Parkhead, given that the Bhoys hold the record for lifting Scottish football’s oldest trophy the most times: 41 occasions.
Nevertheless, Hyunjun Yang is absent for the tie after Celtic failed to have his dismissal at Heart of Midlothian last week overturned on appeal.
The South Korea international will also miss the Hoops’ league meeting with St Johnstone next weekend, which could pave the way for one of Luis Palma or Nicolas Kuhn to take his place.
Beyond that, it remains to be seen whether Tomoki Iwata starts in midfield to compensate for Callum McGregor being unavailable due to injury.
At Tynecastle, the former was harshly penalised for a handball that enabled Hearts to open the scoring; however, he struggled to make an impact on proceedings, obtaining an average Sofascore match rating of 6.6/10.
Match tickets are still available for the tie on general sale via the official club website for those keen to attend Parkhead on Sunday, where all the action commences at 2.30 pm.
For fans who cannot make it, Viaplay hold the rights to show the fixture and a live broadcast from Glasgow’s east end will be shown, with build-up getting underway at 2 pm sharp.
Livingston hero Stuart Lovell discusses his old side facing Celtic
Livingston hero Stuart Lovell has tasted silverware with his old side and captained them to their Scottish League Cup triumph in 2004, which, to date, is the Lions’ only major trophy.
Despite acknowledging how difficult a task it will be against Celtic at Parkhead, the 52-year-old believes Livingston could cause a shock on Sunday.
Lovell stated [Daily Record]: “As a manager you’ve got to try and think about what’s going to make them uncomfortable and it’s Celtic’s own backyard.
“They’ve got the crowd behind them, which is a huge advantage. So how can you flip it on its head and say ‘if it’s still 0-0 after 20 minutes, the crowd aren’t going to be happy’. They’re coming to see a glut of goals and expecting to see Celtic steamroller Livi.
“If Livi are able to set their stall out and make themselves hard to break down and get to the 20-25 minute mark and try and catch their breath – which is always the difficult part – then of course the advantage for Celtic with the home crowd behind them becomes a disadvantage. Then you can play on that.”
He later added: “No one in the country expects them to get a result (Livingston) and it’s maybe a very good distraction for them at a really challenging time of the season. It’s a one-off, different mentality and people have bloodied the noses of Celtic and Rangers in their own back yards this season.
“They have to take confidence from that. We’ve seen over the last few weeks that there is some resilience. you can never look at Livi and think they’ve chucked it.”
Celtic need to put their best foot forward against Livingston
Celtic have got the better of Livingston on two occasions this campaign; however, the jeopardy of cup football is a different kettle of fish compared to league duty.
Given the prize at stake is a semi-final appearance at Hampden, the Bhoys can’t afford to let the occasion pass them by against an opponent that is likely to try and frustrate them by sitting in a rigid shape.
Breaking down lock-block defences has been a problematic endeavour for Rodgers’ men this campaign at times. Nevertheless, let’s hope our quality can shine through once proceedings commence on Sunday.
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