Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers looks set to alter the midfield in his starting XI for the Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell.
After last week’s Scottish League Cup victory, which was the club’s 100th major honour, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers takes his Bhoys to Motherwell’s Fir Park high on confidence.
Not only are Celtic eight points ahead of second-placed Hears of Midlothian (with three games in hand), but Rodgers is yet to taste a league defeat since taking the reigns in the summer.
Add to the mix the fact that the last three encounters between Celtic and Motherwell have seen an aggregate score of 14-0 in Celtic’s favour (2-0, 5-0, 7-0), and it is clear that the Glasgow club are expected to take all three points this weekend.
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It is anticipated that Celtic could make a midfield change for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off – as Patrick Roberts is set to lose his midfield place to Callum McGregor.
Celtic’s Craig Gordon is expected to start behind a back four of Mikael Lustig, the central defensive pairing of Erik Sviatchenko and Jozo Simunovic, and Emilio Izaguirre – who will continue to deputise for the injured Kieran Tierney.
Celtic’s preferable left side is depleted, as winger Scott Sinclair misses out through injury – so joining Izaguirre on the left should be Stuart Armstrong.
Armstrong’s return to a more offensive role could see Roberts benched in favour of McGregor; with the latter expected to partner captain Scott Brown in Rodgers’ double-pivoted midfield.
Moussa Dembele is likely to lead the Celtic attack against Motherwell, where the 20-year-old forward will be hoping to add to his season’s tally of 17 goals in 27 games.
Behind Dembele, Armstrong is expected to be joined with the in-form duo of Tom Rogic and James Forrest.
Meanwhile, Motherwell will be without midfielder Lee Lucas, who remains absent through injury. However, defender Richard Tait is likely to be welcomed back into Mark McGee’s starting XI after recovering from a dead leg.
Lionel Ainsworth looks set for a place on the bench, as McGee ponders over a return to a 4-2-2-2 system that subdued Celtic for the most part in the 2-0 encounter earlier in the season.
Here are the predicted Celtic and Motherwell line-ups in full:
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