Celtic will lock horns with their biggest rivals Rangers on Saturday at Celtic Park in a much anticipated Old Firm Derby. Scottish Premiership had been missing this blockbuster fixture for four long years due to Rangers’ absence from the top tier since their liquidation which makes Saturday’s game even a bigger one. The two Glasgow sides have some gifted players and in this article, we will create a combined XI of the two teams.
Defence
Dorus de Vries is likely to be preferred ahead of Craig Gordon by Brendan Rodgers while Mark Warburton is likely to stick with Wes Foderingham ahead of Matt Gilks. De Vries, with his enormous experience, easily trumps Foderingham under the bar. Mikael Lustig is a big player who has more than 50 caps for Sweden but the 29-year-old has not been at his best lately while Rangers right-back James Tavernier is in stunning form which he has carried from last season. Tavernier makes our combined XI with ease. Kolo Toure, with his wealth of experience at the top level, is pretty much an automatic choice at central defence. Erik Sviatchenko is also a quality defender and makes the combined XI ahead of Rangers likely starting duo Rob Kiernan and Danny Wilson. Kieran Tierney, at the tender age of just 19, already made it to the national team and attracted plenty of interest from abroad and makes our combined XI ahead of Rangers skipper Lee Wallace.
Midfield
Celtic skipper Scott Brown and Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has been involved in a battle of words for quite a while now over the social media. The battle between the two will be something to watch out for. However, they pair up with each other in the middle of the park in our combined XI. Tom Rogic is in a fine form right now but we would still opt for Niko Kranjcar in the number ten role due to his immense experience for both club and country.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is likely to stick with James Forrest and Scott Sinclair on the flanks. Both are enjoying their game at Parkhead and makes our combined XI ahead of Rangers wingers.
Attack
No striker in Scottish football comes even close to Leigh Griffiths right now. The Scottish international has already found the net 7 times this season from 9 games in all competitions setting up four for his teammates. The 26-year-old is an obvious choice in our combined XI.
