The Celtic team vs Sarajevo will be one of the most intriguing of the season overall.
After all, our return to competitive action takes place on Tuesday night in Bosnia. The Hoops will be looking to start off in the way they’ll mean to go on this season. The long route to qualification to the Champions League group stages starts in the soaring heat of Sarajevo, but this match is important for several reasons.
You get the feeling that Neil Lennon can’t overly afford a start similar to Brendan Rodgers’ in Gibraltar. If Celtic fail to take a win from Bosnia this weekend, it will be classed as a poor result. And no wonder. Celtic should be sweeping the floor with sides such as Sarajevo. Any self-respecting group-stage team should too.
And here, we take a look at who we believe will start our first competitive game of the new campaign.
The Celtic team vs Sarajevo (A)
Given the importance of the contest, don’t expect any faffing about in goal. Scott Bain should start as he has done for most of pre-season. He remains Celtic’s number one, and whilst there could be a real contest on between him and Craig Gordon this season, it remains Bain’s jersey to lose.
Now then, just what do we do at right-back? Well, unless Lennon switches to a 3-5-2, we simply have to go with Anthony Ralston. The defender has played in all three of our pre-season games, so he surely has to be the favourite to start in a flat back four.
Down the left, he should see new team-mate Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo. There was something about the speed in which Celtic got that deal done. He’s part of the Champions League squad, and that should spell bad news for Jonny Hayes, whose place in the team Mbombo will likely take.
Kristoffer Ajer at the heart of the defence is a near-certainty, but you can question what will happen alongside him. There’s been nothing further on any potential Jozo Simunovic suspension after his red card against St Gallen. Equally, new signing Christopher Jullien will have only had a week of training under his belt by the time this comes around. We’ll be cautious and say we expect Ajer to be partnered with Simunovic.
Scott Brown and Callum McGregor will hopefully be partnered together for our first competitive game. That’s our strongest central-midfield partnership, and should be the duo Lennon goes for if both are fit.
The familiar wingers to star again?
Big decisions will be made down the flanks. Despite Marian Shved getting some minutes under his belt, expect James Forrest to start as he always seems to do for Lennon in big games. Down the opposite flank, Scott Sinclair, who’s had a decent enough pre-season himself with some goals, is our predicted left-winger.
That leaves a number 10 and a striker, as we predict Lennon to go with the 4-2-3-1. Tom Rogic remains sidelined (Scottish Sun), but Ryan Christie played against the St Gallen under-21s in that 9-1 mauling. He seems like the perfect fit, and that’s who we’ll go for this Tuesday.
The biggest decision Lennon will make is what to do with the striking role. Leigh Griffiths has a simply incredible six goals in three pre-season games. Meanwhile, however, it’s difficult to ignore the big-game goals Odsonne Edouard scored for Lennon to effectively earn him the job permanently.
Lennon told Celtic TV last week that Griffiths still needs to get fitter. That points to a potential start for Edouard, but don’t be surprised to see an appearance from Griff on the bench.
Hopefully, we start off with a confident win in Bosnia. It will put us on the right track, and ease any Champions League qualification nerves early on. With all due respect to Sarajevo, they aren’t a side that should be giving us problems, regardless of what Lennon might say pre-match.
Here’s a look at our team to face Sarajevo in list form:
GK – Scott Bain
RB – Anthony Ralston
CB – Jozo Simunovic
CB – Kristoffer Ajer
LB – Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo
CM – Callum McGregor
CM – Scott Brown
RM – James Forrest
CAM – Ryan Christie
LM – Scott Sinclair
ST – Odsonne Edouard
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