Celtic will enjoy a break from league action this coming week as they embrace the Scottish Cup and the Champions League. Naturally, from the outside, the main focus will be on the glamour tie with Bayern Munich in the play-off round. However, firstly, they have a job to do against Championship side Raith Rovers as they bid to reach the quarter-finals. At Last Word on Football, we provide our Celtic Predicted Lineup for this cup tie.
Celtic Predicted Lineup vs Raith Rovers
How Celtic Have Lined Up Recently
Alistair Johnson returned to the team on Wednesday night, albeit it wasn’t the recoupling of the Canadian and Nicolas Kuhn that many were expecting. Instead red-hot Daizen Maeda was shifted to the right, with Jota on the left and Adam Idah through the middle. With the Japanese goal-scorer missing against the German giants, it seems that Brendan Rodgers is trying to get as many minutes as possible into Jota’s legs before starting him next Wednesday.
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Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Arne Engels combined as the midfield three again, with the Belgian adding another two goals to take his goal tally for this season up to eight.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty partnered and looked much more assured than in the reverse fixture. Meanwhile, Greg Taylor produced another tidy performance.
Celtic’s Recent Form and Tactics
Rodgers highlighted the necessity of a more switched-on performance defensively than the one that saw them ship three goals in Dens Park. Of that, his wish was granted. Celtic’s counter-pressing was on point. Being able to bring the likes of Paulo Bernardo and Kuhn off the bench, allowed those levels of intensity to continue.
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There was a vibrant pace to their game, so much so that in the fourth goal, the fans cheered during the build-up to Maeda’s wonder strike.
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Tactically, against Barry Robson’s side, we will likely see a similar approach. The Rovers will try to frustrate, leaving it up to the Champions to break them down.
Injuries to Consider
Kasper Schmeichel has picked up his first injury of the season, meaning that Summer signing Vijlami Sinsalo will finally make his long-awaited debut at the weekend. James Forrest remains absent.
Celtic Predicted Lineup
- Vijlami Sinsalo
- Alistair Johnson
- Auston Trusty
- Liam Scales
- Jeffrey Schlupp
- Callum McGregor
- Paulo Bernardo
- Luke McCowan
- Nicolas Kuhn
- Johnny Kenny
- Jota
