Celtic face Motherwell on Saturday in the 24th match week of the Scottish Premiership. The league season hasn’t been a tough one by any means for the Bhoys as they have piled a staggering 27 point lead over second placed Aberdeen (who of course have a game in hand).
Brendan Rodgers has given an extra dose of resoluteness to the reigning champions this season as they look firm enough to go the entire season unbeaten. The ball is definitely in their court and they would want to keep the momentum going.
There is no denial to the perception that this Celtic outfit has the charm to disarm the opponents in the top tier of Scottish football with relative ease, but one should expect Motherwell to give a tough fight when they make a trip to the Celtic Park.
Mark McGhee’s will be out to avenge their humiliating 0-3 defeat at the Fir Park in the last outing. Celtic are, however, on a roll with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen in the league, followed by a thumping 6-0 win over Inverness CT in the Scottish Cup.
Rodgers is unlikely to experiment with his starting eleven (that doesn’t mean he is inclined to impose the rule of thumb).
Defence
Sensational youngster Kieran Tierney is be expected to start ahead of Emilio Izaguirre in the left-back slot with Mikael Lustig on the right. The Celts’ full-backs have been injecting a perfect blend of their attacking as well as defensive endeavours. It would be safe to presume that Craig Gordon would once again keep the gloves this weekend.
The defensive line should witness the firm grasp of the central defensive duo in the shape of Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata at the heart of their backline, and who remembers the latter’s superb header against Aberdeen which proved to be the winning goal?
Midfield
We do anticipate Scott Sinclair and James Forrest to be engineered on the wings, with Callum McGregor driving through the middle in his no. 10 role. To lend the cushion of safety, Scott Brown and Nir Brown are likely to play as the two holding midfielders as Rodgers would fancy pulling off sound tactical movements when it comes to knitting his midfield.
Attack
To start the proceedings, Leigh Griffiths might see him being benched at the expense of Moussa Dembele in order to solidify their attacking firepower against the North Lancashire-based club.
