Celtic vs Motherwell is going to be a quest for revenge for Brendan Rodgers’ side, with their recent meeting still fresh in the memory.
The Hoops of course went to Fir Park two weeks ago and saw two points stolen from them thanks to a late Danny Johnson goal. The match ended 1-1 after Ryan Christie had opened the scoring for the Hoops. It was a painful blow for Celtic supporters, in one of six away matches this season that they’ve failed to win.
Thanks to that abysmal run, the Celts are in a title-race. Sitting third, they’ll want to rectify that before the Winter break sets in. That begins with Motherwell’s visit to Parkhead as they look to inflict a double-whammy of set-backs to the Champions.
Celtic, of course, are coming fresh off the back of their worst performance of the season. The 2-0 defeat at Easter Road to Neil Lennon’s Hibs was, quite frankly, a disgrace. Nobody turned up to a man, with only Mikey Johnston coming out with a faded pass mark.
Therefore, Rodgers needs to right some wrongs of both the Hibernian and Motherwell set-backs. To do that, his team selection has to be spot-on.
Despite Jozo Simunovic’s dreadful performance in Leith, he’s likely to keep his place along-side Filip Benkovic at the heart of Celtic’s defence.
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Mikael Lustig is still a slight doubt, and it’s unlikely that he’s rushed back. Kristoffer Ajer, therefore, should keep his place with Kieran Tierney slotting into his position at left-back in place of Emilio Izaguirre.
The midfield dilemma
Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham both weren’t at it against Hibs. Too slow, lethargic, and uninventive – they were two of the primary reasons Celtic created nothing on Sunday.
Even so, Brown is still likely to start the match, with Callum McGregor alongside him.
James Forrest remains such a reliable man to have in the side, so he’ll start wide on the right. Unfortunately, however, Rodgers would pick Scott Sinclair even if he had Cristiano Ronaldo available to him. He has to remedy the woeful error he made on Sunday with these two. Sinclair has to be switched back to the left, with Forrest on the opposite side after neither looked comfortable on the other flanks on Sunday.
In between them, Tom Rogic must be ready to come back into the fray. He was missing against Hibs, with many claiming it was down to a knock. Hopefully, therefore, he’s fit to come back and put Motherwell to the sword.
Odsonne Edouard has been receiving plenty of stick, but it’s important to remember that he’s only 20. At that age, it shouldn’t just be him who’s tasked with leading the Celtic front-line, but no other alternatives are available. He deserves a performance against Motherwell, and will be given the chance to provide it.
Below is our full predicted XI for Wednesday’s clash: