Confirmed Celtic team vs Cluj: Jullien on bench, Morgan starts as Lennon names strong team

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Neil Lennon’s Celtic are in Romania tonight to face CFR Cluj.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has named his team for tonight’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against Cluj, as per UEFA.com.

The full match squad is as follows:

Starting XI: Bain, Elhamed, Simunovic, Ajer, Bolingoli; Brown, McGregor, Christie; Forrest, Edouard, Morgan.

Substitutes: Gordon, Jullien, Bitton, Griffiths, Hayes, Shved, Ntcham.

The Hoops boss has gone with a very strong lineup for the encounter as you’d expect, with a few twists from his established eleven recently.

Odsonne Edouard leads the attacking charge and his ball retention ability, coupled with his lethal finishing, is sure to play an important role during the 90 minutes.

Supported by the red hot Ryan Christie, who has scored six goals and assisted three more in his first five matches this season, Celtic won’t be lacking for attacking threats.

They’ll fancy their chances of netting an away goal to bring back to Celtic Park next Tuesday night.

Of course, the Romanian champions will be backed by a big, expectant crowd of their own this evening so pragmatic defending will be vital.

To aid that Lennon has named familiar pairing Jozo Simunvoic and Kristoffer Ajer in central defence.

The Celtic manager may feel that the duo have the most established partnership at the club, with new signing Christopher Jullien not being thrown into the deep end for what would be just his second start.

In midfield Scott Brown will be on hand to drop deeper and support his defensive line, while Callum McGregor will be tasked with dictating the tempo of the match, retaining possession and figuring out the puzzle of unlocking the Cluj defence.

On the flanks James Forrest, Hatem Abd Elhamed, Lewis Morgan and Boli Bolingoli have been selected. All four have the ability to impact on the pitch in the final third and they could well be the key outlets for distribution working out from the back.

With strong options on the bench including Leigh Griffiths, Olivier Ntcham and Marian Shved, the Celtic manager has plenty of firepower if another plan is needed.

Cluj are in a rich vein of form, unbeaten in seven matches, but Celtic have hardly been slouches recently either and a positive result is very much on the cards for Lennon’s team.

Can they deliver the goods?