Six changes and a first ever start; Celtic Predicted XI vs Hibernian

By Hamish Carton

May 24, 2023

Celtic are back in action this evening as we take on Hibernian in our final away league match of the season.

The game against Lee Johnson’s side is the third last time we’ll see Celtic in action before the end of the campaign.

So, while it may not seem quite as attractive as the other two matches still to come, we should probably enjoy every minute of having Celtic around. It could be a long summer without matches.

Tonight is the team’s first midweek outing in 11 weeks.

Ange Postecoglou tends to rotate the side a bit more when there are multiple matches per week.

Given that, and the fact that the league is already in the bag, could we see changes tonight? We reckon so.

The potential Celtic team vs Hibernian

We do still think Joe Hart will get the nod in goal as he has done for each of our last 34 competitive matches.

In front of him, Anthony Ralston is likely to play at right-back with Alistair Johnston still out.

We’re tipping Yuki Kobayashi and Alexandro Bernabei to be back in after sitting out the weekend draw with St. Mirren.

They’ll join Carl Starfelt in the backline and be given a chance to redeem themselves after poor displays at Ibrox.

In midfield, it may be a wise idea to give Callum McGregor the night off and see what Tomoki Iwata and Reo Hatate can do together.

It would also be great to see Academy Player of the Year Ben Summers be given his first start for the club.

In attack, it may make sense to give Liel Abada, Sead Haksabanovic and Hyeongyu Oh the chance to shine.

The trio all looked lively after coming on at the weekend.

So that would be six changes from Saturday, and plenty of good options on the bench.

Your predicted XI in full is: Hart, Ralston, Starfelt, Kobayashi, Bernabei, Iwata, Hatate, Summers, Abada, Haksabanovic, Oh.

In other news, we took a look at the exact ticket allocations Celtic have received for away matches this season