Despite a defeat against the reigning Champions League winners Real Madrid, Celtic deserve plaudits for their headstrong first-half display on Wednesday night. The champions of Scotland are going strong in the Premiership and a 4-0 triumph in the Old Firm derby has handed him a five-point cushion at the top of the Premiership standings.
The Hoops, meanwhile, must regroup themselves for the Saturday afternoon tie against Livingston. Although it’s a home outing for Ange Postecoglou’s men, Livi have become Celtic’s bogey team in the recent past. They have won and lost thrice each so far in the league and the unpredictability of David Martindale’s side might test the Celt’s resolve in this upcoming contest.
Predicted 4-3-3 Celtic Lineup To Face Livingston
Defence
Joe Hart had a busy occasion against Los Blancos, but the veteran Englishman should aim for his fifth successive clean sheet in the Premiership while clashing heads with Livingston.
A knee injury has ruled Carl Starfelt out for the next few days and the summer signing Moritz Jenz must grab the opportunities in the Swedish centre-back’s absence. He is expected to partner Cameron Carter-Vickers in the heart of the backline, also both Josip Juranovic and Greg Taylor are tipped to continue as the fullbacks ahead of Anthony Ralston and Alexandro Bernabei.
Midfield
The Bhoys have ample options in the centre of the pitch, but the experience and expertise of Callum McGregor can’t be replaced anytime soon. The skipper must pull the strings as a deep-lying playmaker, whereas the box-to-box movement of Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley has helped Postecoglou implement his free-flowing ‘Angeball’.
However, the manager must rotate his midfielders before next midweek’s Shakhtar Donetsk game, and therefore, is likely to bring in Aaron Mooy and David Turnbull at some stage from the bench. The injury misfortune continues for Yosuke Ideguchi who has remained sidelined since the inception of the 2022-23 campaign.
Attack
Kyogo Furuhashi has recovered from a shoulder injury but was only fit enough to feature for the final 20 minutes against Real Madrid. He should start though versus Livi alongside Filipe Jota and Liel Abada from the flanks. Giorgos Giakoumakis could be introduced as a ‘super sub’ and so are Daizen Maeda and James Forrest. Sead Hakšabanović showed his sparks in a cameo appearance on Wednesday night and the minutes must increase for the Montenegro international who joined them from Rubin Kazan in the final week of the transfer window.
