Reigning Premiership champions Celtic will be looking to continue their good run of form when they welcome Hibernian to Parkhead this weekend. The encounter is scheduled for Sunday night, as the home side even had European commitments to deal with in midweek. The 1-0 win against Riga in the Europa League was thanks to some late drama from Mohamed Elyounoussi. The victory meant that the Parkhead club would participate in the next round of the competition.
Their last league outing was a 3-2 victory, where the Celts were required to come from behind, while the 2-1 win against St.Mirren prior to that also saw the opposition taking the lead first. Despite not being the most fluent defensively, their attacking play has been good enough to carry them over the line. With just a single point the difference between themselves and Rangers, Neil Lennon’s side will now be quite eager to secure every point they can from this point in the season.
Team News
Celtic have a full-strength roster to choose from, and that alone could be enough for them to trump Rangers to the title this season. The likes of Albian Ajeti and Shane Duffy have settled in perfectly, which means that Lennon can choose any formation or lineup that he pleases for this tie.
Here Is The Predicted 3-5-2 Celtic Lineup Vs Hibernian:
Predicted 3-5-2 Celtic Lineup Vs Hibernian
Defence
Vasilis Barkas’ arrival from AEK Athens was an absolute necessity going into the season, as Scott Bain was the only alternate option that was available to Celtic. Despite not looking overly secure at times, the Greek keeper has done enough to warrant a first-team berth. In front of him, expect Lennon to counter Hibernian with a three-man back-line. Summer loan signing Shane Duffy is likely to start in the heart of the defence, with Kristoffer Ajer and Hatem Abd Elhamed on either side of the Irishman.
Midfield
Scott Brown and Callum McGregor have been the first-choice midfielders at Celtic for a while now, and that trend is surely going to continue. While the skipper is usually responsible for providing protection to the back-line, McGregor has the license to get forward and make things happen in attack. Greg Taylor and Jeremie Frimpong are likely to start in the full-back roles and will be allotted the task of providing most of the Hoops’ width on the night.
Attack
Despite the flurry of wingers available to Lennon, expect the gaffer to go with a two-man strike force for this tie. Odsonne Edouard and Albian Ajeti could start together upfront. The pair of them have both scored important goals since the start of the season, and pairing them up could be the way to go. Mohamed Elyounoussi was the saviour for Celtic in midweek, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to start. The number ten slot could instead be filled by Ryan Christie for this outing.
