Predicted line- ups for clash with Ross County
BEFORE the World Cup roles round, Celtic still have one final fixture to play.
The Hoops take on Ross County at Parkhead as they look to maintain their sevenpoint lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The sides have met twice already this season, with the Scottish champions winning 3- 1 and 4- 1, respectively.
Ange Postecoglou will be hoping his players can go out on a high before top- flight football pauses for five weeks due to the tournament in Qatar.
And with plenty of individuals playing well, the manager has somewhat of a selection headache on his hands.
Who will the Australian pick? Our writers have their say...
Sean Martin
With this being the final game before the break, you’d imagine it’s a fair shout that the rotation will not be at quite the levels it has been recently. Then again, that might mean only five changes instead of six...
While Anthony Ralston would be deserving of a start before heading off to Sydney, the weight of Postecoglou’s selection choices so far suggests it will be his World Cup- bound team- mate Josip Juranovic who gets the nod.
At centre- back, there’s a good chance Carl Starfelt’s progression back to full fitness is taken in baby steps, so after a full 90 against Motherwell he will make way for Moritz Jenz to start against the team he made his competitive debut and scored his first Celtic goal against.
Both Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate are on a run of 11 consecutive starts and I reckon that extends into a 12th match before the break, with Aaron Mooy dropping out of the other 8 spot in favour of David Turnbull after a couple of nice sub contributions lately.
Up front there is real and genuine competition for a start but after Kyogo Furuhashi’s seventh opening goal of the league season and the sumptuous assistthatwasn’t against Well, I reckon both he and Jota keep their places.
Sead Haksabanovic, James Forrest and Daizen Maeda can all fight it out for that last spot ( although I think it goes to the former).
Sean’s team: Hart; Juranovic, Carter- Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; O’Riley, Hatate, Turnbull; Haksabanovic, Kyogo, Jota.
Tony Haggerty
Once again, Ange Postecoglou will attack this task with gusto before taking his men down under for the Sydney Cup series as part of his Australian homecoming tour.
So it is expected the Celtic boss to field a strong starting XI as the champions look to preserve their seven- point lead at the summit as well as finish this segment of the campaign with a flourish.
With that in mind, Joe Hart will be in between the sticks and Juranovic will be displaced by Ralston. Cameron Carter- Vickers will be deployed in the centre of defence alongside Starfelt with Greg Taylor on the left.
In midfield, the trio of the deep- lying O’Riley alongside Mooy and Hatate will remain in situ.
As for the attackers, Jota will be given the task of taking his personal disappointment at missing out on being selected for Portugal’s World Cup squad on the visitors by starting on the left. That’s a challenge the winger will relish. Haksabanovic will be deployed on the right to see if he can add to last weekend’s impressive brace against Dundee United.
Meanwhile, Kyogo who took his league tally to 10 goals but 11 overall in all competitions in 22 matches will be the focal point through the middle as he looks to sign off with a third goal in his last three matches.
Tony’s team: Hart; Ralston, Carter- Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor; O’Riley, Hatate, Mooy; Haksabanovic, Kyogo, Jota.
Aidan Macdonald
The manager will want to maintain consistency, given this is the final game before the World Cup break
Therefore there will be no changes for the fixture against Malky Mackay’s side.
Hart will start in goals, and the back four in front of him will remain the same as Juranovic, Carter- Vickers, Starfelt and Taylor will make up the back four.
O’Riley will be in the number eight position in the middle of the park, with Hatate and Mooy in front of him.
Abada will once again start on the right- hand side of the front three, Kyogo will be through the middle, and Jota will be positioned as a left winger.
Aidan’s team: Hart; Juranovic, Carter- Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor; O’Riley, Hatate, Mooy; Abada, Kyogo, Jota.