Celtic v Lazio promises to be the most intriguing contest in Europa League group E.
It’s the two favourites in the four-team table locking horns at Celtic Park tomorrow night. The Hoops have already been given a few boosts by the fact that Simone Inzaghi looks likely to mix things up for the crunch clash (Scottish Sun).
Celtic, meanwhile, have the same old injury problems of their own. The likes of Jozo Simunovic, Daniel Arzani, and Leigh Griffiths all won’t make it. Jeremie Frimpong, meanwhile, won’t be able to build on his performance against Ross County as he didn’t make the Europa League squad.
But Lennon’s first-choice starting XI pretty much picks itself for these big games nowadays. And, here, we give our prediction on how that XI will look on Thursday night:
The Team
Fraser Forster has kept one clean sheet out of two in his European matches since returning to the club. A big performance from him is going to be key to getting a good result. He has to stand tall against Ciro Immobile and Felipe Caicedo. But there’s no denying he’ll start in any case.
One of our two changes from Saturday’s win over Ross County is enforced. As mentioned, Frimpong is unavailable to continue his run in the side due to red tape. Then again, even if he was available, you would still fancy Hatem Abd Elhamed to return. The Israeli hasn’t played since the Cluj win for Celtic, and will be itching to get back out there.
No such problems at left-back of course. We all know Boli Bolingoli will be given the nod. Question marks over Greg Taylor’s position continue to be valid. Neil Lennon has still to update us all on his status.
At centre-back, Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer will come up against their biggest task yet. Jullien in particular has dealt with M’Baye Niang and Billel Omrani so far. Neither of the duo, however, have the same pedigree as Immobile. This is going to be the most intriguing battle of the night.
Scott Brown and Callum McGregor continue to start every big game for Celtic in the middle of the park. Why on earth would that change for Thursday?
Wide-men have their spots sealed
James Forrest won us the penalty in Rennes before having a seriously quiet evening against Cluj at Parkhead. He’s still to have a big European performance in these groups. Don’t bet against it being this week.
Mikey Johnston still seems to be out injured, with Lenny claiming over the weekend that he was growing concerned over how long it’s taking him to return (Scottish Sun). In his absence, Mohamed Elyounoussi will look to build on both his goal vs Cluj and brace against Ross County. He’s therefore scored on his last two trips to Parkhead – will he make it three from three?
Our second change comes in the number 10 position. Tom Rogic has only just returned and put in a decent performance against County at the weekend. However, with Ryan Christie’s suspension not valid for European games, we’re going to say Lenny puts him back in against the Serie A side. Rogic can therefore start against Aberdeen on Sunday.
Up top, all eyes will be on Odsonne Edouard. Can he put yet another credible European name to the sword? It’ll be tough against the Serie A heavyweights, but you can’t bet against Odsonne just now. He’s a banker to start, and can seriously fire Celtic to European success here. As always, here’s a look at the team in list form:
GK – Fraser Forster
RB – Hatem Abd Elhamed
CB – Christopher Jullien
CB – Kristoffer Ajer
LB – Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo
CM – Scott Brown
CM – Callum McGregor
RM – James Forrest
CAM – Ryan Christie
LM – Mohamed Elyounoussi
ST – Odsonne Edouard
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
