Celtic continue their defence of the Scottish Premiership at Celtic Park tonight.
The form of Neil Lennon’s Celtic heading into tonight’s encounter at home to Hamilton could not be better.
They’ve won their last ten fixtures in succession, spanning three competitions. In that ten-game run they’ve scored a massive 34 goals.
Visitors Hamilton, on the other hand, have been struggling massively, picking up just a single victory between mid-August and tonight’s trip to Celtic Park.
Manager Brian Rice will know the gargantuan task on his hands to get any sort of result against a team flying high both domestically and in Europe.
Still, nothing can be taken for granted and Lennon will have to field a strong team and instil into his players a laser-focused mentality, with a huge League Cup final on Sunday looming on the horizon.
He confirmed to reporters that Boli Bolingoli, Mohamed Elyounousssi and Odsonne Edouard have all been ruled out of the encounter despite a return to training for the trio (The Daily Record).
That leaves room for striker Leigh Griffiths to come in and make his first start since 17th August. The striker has come off the bench in the Hoops’ last three matches but hasn’t quite had the fitness to be selected in an eleven.
However, tonight would appear to be the perfect opportunity, despite Lewis Morgan doing well in a striker’s role.
There could be a start for winger Mikey Johnston too, who has delighted supporters with cameo roles against Rennes and Ross County over the last seven days.
Elsewhere, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Olivier Ntcham coming back into the starting eleven, perhaps giving Scott Brown, Callum McGregor or Ryan Christie a rest before Sunday’s match. Lennon almost confirmed as much in his pre-match press conference (The Daily Record).
How much rotation goes on in the rest of the team remains to be seen, but Lennon has chosen to stick with his tried and trusted players for the most part, rather than changing things massively.
It could be that the enforced changes are enough for him to think he needs his other regulars in the team, although players such as James Forrest could do with a bit of breather.
Your predicted lineup in full is:
GK – Fraser Forster
RB – Jeremie Frimpong
CB – Christopher Jullien
CB – Nir Bitton
LB – Greg Taylor
CM – Scott Brown
CM – Olivier Ntcham
RW – Ryan Christie
AM – Tom Rogic
LW – Mikey Johnston
ST – Leigh Griffiths
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