Predicted XI vs Motherwell (away)

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Celtic’s Motherwell line-up is sure to be an interesting one this evening when the Hoops travel to Fir Park.

Brendan Rodgers men arrive in North Lanarkshire looking to get their place at the top of the table back. Rangers of course took that spot with a 2-1 win at Hearts on Sunday. Celtic, however, have a game in-hand.

Due to the hectic nature of the December schedule, Celtic’s game in-hand may not be until the New Year. If that’s the case, the club need to keep putting the pressure on and churning out wins without any failure.

Therefore, Rodgers will surely field one of the strongest teams he possibly can in each game this month.

Motherwell away will be no different, with Craig Gordon highly expected to return in between the sticks. Despite Scott Bain’s solid performance at Hampden, this is the right way to go.

An opening for Jozo?

A hamstring injury to Dedryck Boyata frees up a spot for one of Celtic’s out-of-favour centre-backs. With Kristoffer Ajer also injured, however, Jozo Simunovic has to be the man to come in. His Celtic career looked to be falling by the wayside, but Boyata’s knock has given the Bosnian a chance at redemption.

The next change that could be expected is Scott Brown in for Tom Rogic. Rogic needs to be used wisely over the course of December. He’s had his fitness concerns in the past, and there’s plenty of big games to come this month. Rogic, therefore, needs to be fit for all of them.

Brown’s return could see Callum McGregor stay deep with him and allow Ryan Christie to roam in the number 10 position. With Scott Sinclair and James Forrest down either flank, Rodgers has found success with this system.

The final change that Rodgers could enforce tonight is 105-goal man Leigh Griffiths in for Odsonne Edouard. The Scotland international is back fit and waiting on opportunities to shine. With Edouard having not scored in four and again needing to be used wisely this month, this is the most logical change.

Here’s our predicted XI for tonight’s Fir Park clash in full:

GK – Craig Gordon

RB – Mikael Lustig

CB – Jozo Simunovic

CB – Filip Benkovic

LB – Kieran Tierney

CDM – Scott Brown

CDM – Callum McGregor

RM – James Forrest

CAM – Ryan Christie

LM – Scott Sinclair

ST – Leigh Griffiths