Tonight’s Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell could offer Ange Postecoglou the chance to reintroduce the defensive pairing of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
The duo joined the club last summer as the Celtic manager looked to rebuild his playing squad, which included drastic changes in the Hoops’ backline.
After taking some time to settle into life at Parkhead, Starfelt and Carter-Vickers became mainstays in the back four, which went on to become the best defence in Scotland last season.
And that wasn’t even the most impressive record the centre-back pairing held. When playing alongside one another in the Celtic defence, they are still yet to lose in the Scottish Premiership.
Although both players have started games together this season, it has only been on two separate occasions due to injury.
Carl Starfelt has been missing for large chunks of the campaign due to a knee problem, whilst Carter-Vickers has also suffered from slight knocks in recent weeks.
However, tonight’s trip to Fir Park could offer up Ange Postecoglou the ideal opportunity to reintroduce his first-choice pairing from last season for the first time since the 4-0 win over Rangers in September.
German centre-back and summer signing Mortiz Jenz has been a solid replacement for Starfelt, and he even got the opportunity to play alongside the Swedish international at the Bernabeu last week.
Most of his football has come alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers this season, though, and the duo have struck up a solid partnership, playing the majority of games in the UEFA Champions League.
Good opportunity for Ange Postecoglou to rest Moritz Jenz and reintroduce Carl Starfelt.
However, it could be a good opportunity for the Celtic manager to hand the on-loan defender a rest this evening.
Since Starfelt’s injury against our Glasgow rivals, Jenz has started 13 of the last 14 games, which includes all of the Bhoys Scottish Premiership, Premier Sports cup and Champions League outings.
The injury knocks to Carter-Vickers have meant that Jenz hasn’t been able to take a rest from the starting 11 in recent weeks. So, with Starfelt making his full return and playing 90 minutes against Madrid last week, now sounds like the ideal time to do just that.
Thanks to the brilliant partnership both Starfelt and CCV struck up last season, they aren’t going to need much time to get used to each other once again.
Ahead of the winter World Cup break, it would come as a huge boost to the Celtic manager to see his first-choice centre-back pairing reinstated to the starting line-up.
Here’s hoping that whoever starts at the back for the Hoops tonight doesn’t have too much on their plate. But, thankfully, we are in a good position where we have several options that we can trust.
In other news, European recruitment chief recalls the process behind signing top Celtic talent.
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