{"id":653652,"date":"2025-04-11T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=653652"},"modified":"2025-04-11T14:42:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:42:28","slug":"celtic-predicted-lineup-vs-kilmarnock-april-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/04\/11\/celtic-predicted-lineup-vs-kilmarnock-april-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Predicted Lineup vs Kilmarnock for April 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was set to be the day that Celtic could secure their fourth consecutive league title in the Spring Sunshine, thanks to a lacklustre display at St Johnstone though, plans have been put on hold. <\/span>Although<\/span>, <\/span>it’s a matter of when rather than if, <\/span>and<\/span>on Saturday afternoon, they will be looking to return to winning ways.<\/span> They face a Kilmarnock side that sits just two points above the bottom two. How then, will Celtic tackle this tie? We answer just that at Last Word on Football, with our Celtic Predicted Lineup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic Predicted Lineup vs Kilmarnock<\/span><\/h2>\n

How Celtic Have Lined Up Recently<\/span><\/h3>\n

After an uninspiring display in Perth, Brendan Rodgers <\/span>frustratingly<\/span> lamented the poor\u00a0<\/span>“mentality and ambition<\/span>” o<\/span><\/a>f the players<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He lined up with Vilijami Sinsalo in between the sticks. The Finn was bought from Aston Villa in the Summer window as an understudy to the <\/span>aging<\/span> Kasper Schmeichel. In his two starts since the Dane sustained an injury, he has proved to be a reliable shot-stopper. <\/span>Having said that,<\/span> St Johnstone’s opening goal revealed a part of his game he should be looking to improve.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Graham Carey lines up to take the free kick, the Finn stands\u00a0<\/span>very<\/span>\u00a0close to his goal line. If you\u00a0<\/span>were to<\/span>\u00a0split the length of his six-yard box in two, he would be comfortably in his\u00a0<\/span>own<\/span>\u00a0half. By definition, this gives Carey a\u00a0<\/span>bigger<\/span>\u00a0area to aim into and <\/span>also<\/span> creates a lack of certainty over who should make the first contact for Celtic. With Schmeichel still some weeks away from a return, it’ll be interesting to see whether a positional adjustment is made at set pieces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Five\u00a0Things Learned From Glasgow Derby<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

In defence, Alistair Johnson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty and Jeffrey Schlupp played. Schlupp was replaced at halftime for Greg Taylor, and truthfully, he had little to complain about. In the build-up to St Johnstone’s winning free kick, the 32-year-old <\/span>showed a lack of<\/span> composure and awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

A long pass from the Saints saw them win first contact, a common theme for the rest of the game. All of a sudden, Carter-Vickers and Schlupp were caught out of position.\u00a0<\/span>Forced to cover on the left-hand side, Trusty did well\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>deal<\/span>\u00a0with the danger and forced Makenzie Kirk to retreat.<\/span>\u00a0Yet, just as Celtic seemed safe, Schlupp needlessly fouled the Young Scotsman, putting his side under pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Engels Dilemma<\/span><\/h3>\n

In midfield,<\/span> Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Arne Engels played together. As has been the case <\/span>as of late<\/span>, there was a lack of cohesion and fluidity. Fairly or unfairly, the eyes are drawn towards the latter of the three. Signed at a record fee of \u00a311 million, the Belgian has\u00a0<\/span>still<\/span>\u00a0to show a consistent level of performance that matches his price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the European stage, where\u00a0<\/span>naturally<\/span>\u00a0the game is much more open, he has looked more at home and been able to show off his passing range. He excelled away <\/span>to<\/span> Aston Villa<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Bayern Munich and at home to Slovan Bratislava and Rb Leipzig.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Andy <\/span>Walkers<\/span> Opinion on Ban of Alcohol in Scottish Football<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Yet in the domestic scene, where space is at a premium against low blocks and man-marking sides, his lack of positional awareness is often exposed. More importantly, when posed with the question: What does he\u00a0<\/span>actually<\/span>\u00a0bring to this Celtic side? Can you confidently answer?<\/span><\/p>\n

Up front, Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda and Jota started together. Kuhn’s recent run of poor performances continued and\u00a0was\u00a0shipped off after halftime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic’s Recent Form and Tactics<\/span><\/h3>\n

There was a real lack of urgency in last week’s loss to St Johnstone. “Intensity” and “counter-pressing” were the buzzwords coming out of Rodgers’ mouth in the first half of the season, but since the exit to the Champions League, there has been little of that<\/span>. Which<\/span> is an issue. In a possession-heavy system, built on rotations and creating openings, playing at a slow pace is easy to defend against.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bhoys have lost three of their last seven domestic games<\/span>, to<\/span> reach the same figure beforehand you would have to go back 60 games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Will Brendan Rodgers Extend His Contract at Celtic?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Without a doubt, the<\/span> lack of jeopardy left in the league campaign has contributed to the decline in performance levels.<\/span> It’s no coincidence that in that run, the most dominant performance was the Scottish Cup Quarter-Final tie against Hibernian. It’s not unusual to see runaway leaders tail off towards the end of a season. <\/span>Take<\/span> a<\/span> look at the Premier League; Liverpool, sitting eleven points clear, have dropped points in three of their last eight league games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, you sense part of Rodgers’ frustration comes from his feeling that “his sides” don’t do that. A look at the 2017\/18 season may suggest otherwise, though. In the last thirteen games, they won six, drew four and lost three. In five of those games, they didn’t score a single goal. <\/span>Importantly<\/span> though<\/span>, it didn’t affect the Scottish Cup, with clean-sheet victories in both the Semi-Final and Final.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic Injuries to Consider<\/span><\/h3>\n

Schmeichel remains out. After an awkward fall last week, Yang is unavailable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celtic Predicted Lineup<\/span><\/h3>\n

Kasper Schmeichel<\/span><\/p>\n

Alistair Johnson<\/span><\/p>\n

Cameron Carter-Vickers<\/span><\/p>\n

Auston Trusty<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffrey Schlupp<\/span><\/p>\n

Callum McGregor<\/span><\/p>\n

Reo Hatate<\/span><\/p>\n

Paulo Bernardo<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicolas Kuhn<\/span><\/p>\n

Daizen Maeda<\/span><\/p>\n

Jota<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was set to be the day that Celtic could secure their fourth consecutive league title in the Spring Sunshine, thanks to a lacklustre display at St Johnstone though, plans have been put on hold. Although, it’s a matter of when rather than if, andon Saturday afternoon, they will be looking to return to winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4404,"featured_media":646733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8428,8427,1831],"tags":[32115],"class_list":["post-653652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celtic","category-scottish-premiership","category-starting-line-up","tag-celtic-predicted-lineup"],"modified_by":"Ricky Carroll, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653652"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653665,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653652\/revisions\/653665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}