Celtic might not be at their best right now, but they have grinded out some good results in the last few games. Next, they will travel to Austria to take on Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League clash. Both the teams got off to a winning start so the teams would be confident of a positive result. The Hoops might have missed out on qualifying for the Champions League, but Europa League gives them a better chance of progressing in the later stages of the tournament.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are not able to unlock defences as they did in the last two seasons, but the good thing is that they can keep it tight at the back. Salzburg shouldn’t be underestimated as they defeated RB Leipzig in their first encounter who reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League last season.
Team News
Centre-backs Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic are the ones who are doubtful for this game. Apart from that, Rodgers would have a strong squad to choose from in this game.
Celtic’s Predicted Lineup Vs Red Bull Salzburg
Formation(4-2-3-1)
Defence
The experienced Craig Gordon would start in goal, and he has kept seven clean sheets in the last eight games. Though for that, a good amount of credit needs to go to the defence line. Dedryck Boyata has shown that he is willing to let the summer saga not affect him and the Belgian has put in some good performances at the back. He will start in the heart of the defence along with Leicester City’s loanee Filip Benkovic. Though Jack Hendry has done well, we believe the Croatian is slightly better and would start in European encounters.
Down the left, the ever-present Kieran Tierney would start, and he would be expected to keep things tight as well as provide an attacking option to his side down the left. Mikael Lustig would do the same from the right side of the defence.
Midfield
Scott Brown will have to be at his best to keep things quiet and ticking in the middle of the park. Salzburg are known to play a high octane brand of football, and the captain will have to put in a top performance. Olivier Ntcham is the one who will partner him in midfield. The Frenchman is likely to have more freedom to go forward as Rodgers would want a more disciplined performance from his talented midfielder.
The manager has tried Odsonne Edouard in the no.10 role off late, but we believe Tom Rogic is best suited for that, and he should start just behind the striker. Down the left, Callum McGregor and Scott Sinclair are the options which Rodgers can go for and for us, McGregor gets the nod. Out wide on the right, James Forrest who signed a new contract recently should start.
Forward
The gaffer will be in a dilemma whether to keep on giving Odsonne Edouard a chance to prove his worth. However, we believe Leigh Griffiths should be the one to lead the line in this all-important clash.
