Celtic are gearing up for a significant week under Brendan Rodgers as they aim to maintain their slot at the top of the Scottish Premiership table alongside progressing to the Premier Sports Cup final.
Last weekend, the Bhoys saw off Motherwell in comfortable fashion as goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah made the points safe.
Despite Aberdeen’s statement victory over Dundee United the night before, Celtic laid a marker down to anyone willing to challenge for their Scottish Premiership crown after taking their points tally to 25 from 27 available.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 24 | 25 |
| 2 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 25 |
| 3 |  RangersRangers | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 19 |
| 4 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 15 |
Brendan Rodgers will have seen many positives during the clash, not least his side’s ability to dispatch a tricky opponent at Fir Park and avoid a European hangover after the Hoops’ draw away to Atalanta last midweek.
Regardless, that is now all in the past, and there is one burning question the Irishman will be tasked with answering in a week that is majorly significant for Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic question amid important week
Firstly, Celtic face Dundee on Wednesday night in their mission to retain top spot before a mammoth Premier Sports Cup semi-final tie with Aberdeen at the weekend.
With Cameron Carter-Vickers now back in contention after appearing off the bench against Motherwell, does the manager omit one of Liam Scales or Auston Trusty to make way for the United States international to start?
On one hand, Celtic won’t want to take any risks amid recent developments. Carter-Vickers has found ‘discomfort’ with a foot issue over the last few weeks, which isn’t something the Bhoys will want to aggravate with the chance to enter a cup final on the horizon against Aberdeen.
Nevertheless, the former Tottenham Hotspur man has missed seven matches in total this campaign, suggesting he may be a little behind on fitness.
Minutes are the only cure for that, so you get the impression that Carter-Vickers might get the nod against Dundee to swiftly accelerate his state of readiness for the clash at Hampden.
RB Leipzig visit Celtic Park the following Tuesday, so there is plenty of discussion to be had on how best to feed him back into the line-up ahead of the Champions League encounter.
It would be harsh to drop Liam Scales or Auston Trusty
While Carter-Vickers is widely acknowledged as Celtic’s best defender, dropping Scales or Trusty would feel harsh seeing as both have played their part in consecutive clean sheets against Atalanta and Motherwell.
The pair have began to build a solid understanding of eachother’s best attributes, taking turns at enforcing and being the aggressor to help ease their side into transition.
After the Bhoys drew in Italy, Chris Sutton labelled Trusty as a ‘pleasent surprise’ as he continues to cement himself despite being on the wrong side from his favoured left-sided berth.
Beside him, Scales has been an ever-present, being involved in all of Celtic’s seven domestic clean sheets regardless of who is beside him.
On the face of it, Rodgers has a difficult decision to make that could shape the wider defensive paradigm at Celtic this season.
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