After their 4-0 win against Heart of Midlothian, Celtic have been back to their winning ways, having collected three wins on the trot and are due to host their local rivals, Rangers, at the Celtic Park on Saturday.
The Hoops have collected 50 points from 21 games so far in the Scottish Premiership and are placed at the top of the league table. Rangers are placed 3rd on the table, with 39 points.
However, the Old Firm derby against the Gers is a match where pride lies at stake, apart from 3 points of course. Here is how we expect Brendan Rodgers to pencil his starting line-up against Graeme Murty’s Rangers.
Defence
Craig Gordon has been the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper for the Bhoys and should be stationed between the sticks once again. He bagged 3 clean sheets in his last 3 games, which were against Dundee, Aberdeen and Partick Thistle, and would be keen to do the same against his side’s arch-rivals on Saturday.
Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer are expected to be teed up together at the heart of Celtic’s defence. While Boyata has been rock solid at the back more often than not, Ajer is really learning how to ply his trade in the top flight and it goes without saying that Rodgers should stick to him and let him thrive further.
While the right-back position is expected to be handed to Mikael Lustig, at the left-back position, Kieran Tierney is expected to make yet another start and would unarguably be one of the first names to find a place in the starting line-up.
Midfield
To inject resilience in the middle, the duo comprising of Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham is expected to be stationed. Brown and Ntcham have been producing dazzling outputs and it is unlikely to see them being trifled with.
Tom Rogic is ruled out until the New Year and thus, the role of no.10 for the game is seemingly likely to be handed to Callum McGregor.
Attack
Jonny Hayes suffered a broken leg against Dundee and is out of contention against the Light Blues. Patrick Roberts is also out injured and thus, Scott Sinclair is likely to be stationed at the left-wing whereas the other wing should be accommodated by James Forrest.
Right up front, Moussa Dembele should definitely be started by Rodgers for the huge game that lies ahead as the Frenchman has the calibre to create havoc to the defence of Murty’s side.
