Confirmed Celtic lineup: Lennon goes strong as Edouard and Griffiths start together

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Celtic play Estonian champions Nomme Kalju at Celtic Park tonight.

Neil Lennon has announced his Celtic team to face Nomme Kalju in the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying tonight, as per celticfc.net.

The full match squad is as follows:

Starting XI: Bain; Simunovic, Bitton, Ajer; Brown, Forrest, Christie, McGregor, Bolingoli; Griffiths, Edouard.

Substitutes: Gordon, Jullien, Sinclair, Hayes, Morgan, Johnston, Ntcham.

Lennon is sticking with his tried and trusted players in a crucial European tie.

The headline news is the pairing of Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard in attack, with the manager playing the duo together for the first time.

Griffiths is making his first competitive start since 2018.

The Hoops boss and his players will know that a more convincing victory than last week’s 2-1 win over FK Sarajevo could be needed to take abroad for the return leg.

Celtic have yet to win by more than a one goal margin at home since Lennon took over from Brendan Rodgers and tonight’s performance will have to be aggressive and direct from the off.

Players such as Ryan Christie and James Forrest hold the keys to creating chances and in the selected Edouard they have a forward who can score on the big occasion.

Griffiths is also a reliable goal presence and has successfully navigated his club through European ties in the past.

What formation we see will be very interesting.

Will Edouard play out wide on the left hand side or will the duo being playing through the middle together?

Will the Celtic boss go with a 3-5-2 formation?

Christopher Jullien will again have to remain patient for his starting competitive debut, with Nir Bitton once again fancied in defence alongside Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer.

Elsewhere it’s really business as usual, although fans may be looking forward to getting another glimpse of new signing Boli Bolingoli in action after his eventful debut last week.

If a 3-5-2 is on the cards than he’ll be flanking the central midfield three with James Forrest.

Supporters are in for an exciting night.

Can Lennon’s side get the job done and take one step forward towards the next round?