Celtic’s 100% start to the Premiership was brought to an end by Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Sunday as the Hoops had to go home by being content with just one point. A late equaliser from Alex Fisher robbed the Bhoys of two points. Celtic will shift their focus on the League Cup now as they Bhoys host League One side Alloa in the quarter-final of the Scottish League Cup on Wednesday.
Alloa are in a brilliant form right now having won five of their last six games in all competitions. They overcame East Fife 3-0 in the previous round and will be looking to upset the Premiership holders. Celtic had beaten Motherwell 5-0 in the previous round and will be high on confidence heading into the game. However, confidence is a good thing but Rodgers cannot afford complacency from his boys.
Here is the predicted Celtic lineup against Alloa.
Defence
Dorus de Vries could have done much better to keep out both Inverness goals on Sunday. The Dutchman is likely to be benched for Craig Gordon who will be looking to prove his worth to the manager. Cristian Gamboa should keep his place in the right back position. Jozo Simunovic featured for the first time for Celtic since January when he came on off the bench against Inverness. The young Croat could be given a starting role against Alloa. We can expect Dedryck Boyata to start alongside Simunovic at the back. Emilio Izaguirre is likely to start in the left-back position with Kieran Tierney being rested.
Midfield
Nir Bitton did not start this past weekend and should be back in the starting XI against Alloa. Scott Brown has played a lot over the last couple of weeks and could be rested. Youngster Liam Henderson could get a chance to impress in the middle of the park.
Kris Commons could start in the number ten role with Tom Rogic getting rested. James Forrest did not start on Sunday and should walk back to the starting XI on the right flank. Stuart Armstrong is likely to start on the left flank giving Scott Sinclair a much-deserved rest after the amount of football he has played since joining the Glasgow giants.
Attack
Leigh Griffiths missed the last three games with an injury and we do not expect the Scot to be risked. Moussa Dembele did an excellent job in his absence against Rangers bagging a hat-trick, but in the next two games, the youngster looked pretty average. We can expect Dembele to keep his place up front against Alloa.
