Celtic will travel to Fir Park to take on Motherwell after wrapping up yet another trophy by narrowly defeating Aberdeen in the League Cup final. Rangers meanwhile have gone to the top of the table, but the Hoops have a game in hand. Rodgers’ men would want to register the full three points to keep up with their major Glasgow rivals.
There is no doubt about which team would go in as the favourite for this encounter, but the Celtic gaffer needs to make sure that his team is not hung over following the victory from the last weekend. Motherwell are coming on the back of a 2-0 defeat against Livingston and not too long ago Rangers scored seven against them. Therefore, one shouldn’t expect too much of a miracle from the home team.
Team News
Centre back Kristoffer Ajer is yet to recover from his horror face injury. Daniel Arzani and Eboue Kouassi are out for the rest of the season. Jozo Simunovic is back to full fitness and played as a substitute in the final. Mikey Johnston and Marvin Compper are unlikely to feature due to fitness issues.
Celtic predicted lineup vs Motherwell
Formation (4-2-3-1)
Defence
Craig Gordon should be back in goal after Rodgers decided to persist with Scott Bain in the League Cup final. The Bhoys last conceded a goal in the Premiership in October, and that is largely down to the defensive pair of Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic. Both of them are strong in the air and are comfortable on the ball. The trusted pair should start once again in the heart of the defence for Rodgers.
Down the right, Mikael Lustig should keep his place. The ever threatening and impressive Scotsman Kieran Tierney will start from the left to complete the back four.
Midfield
Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham have made appearances from the bench in the last two games, and we believe this would be the perfect game for them to start after their injury setback. The duo should start in central midfield.
Callum McGregor should start down the left ahead of Scott Sinclair. Tom Rogic should start in the no. 10 role behind the striker. James Forrest is likely to keep his place on the right flank. Keeping out Ryan Christie from the first eleven is definitely harsh but having played consecutively in the past month, he deserves a breather.
Attack
Odsonne Edouard has led the line well and has put in some influential performances, but we believe this game is the perfect opportunity for Rodgers to start Leigh Griffiths to give the former PSG striker a rest.
