As Celtic prepares to kick off their Champions League campaign, they face a challenging trip to Feyenoord on Tuesday night.
Many Celtic supporters have already embarked on their journey to Rotterdam, anticipating a thrilling encounter. The excitement is palpable, given Feyenoord’s recent performance. The Dutch side has been on a scoring spree, managing to find the back of the net consistently, even with the absence of some pivotal players in the attacking lineup.
Meanwhile, speculations and debates are rife about Celtic’s potential starting lineup, especially concerning choices for the wings and central defence.
As the showdown looms, the CeltsAreHere team has made their predictions on the starting eleven:
Craig (@CraigCelt): Craig believes that the manager will stick with the same central defensive duo and wingers from the weekend. However, he expects Hatate to make a return to the starting lineup, given his commendable performance as a substitute.
Predicted Lineup: Hart, Johnston, Philips, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Maeda, Yang, Kyogo.
Aaron (@aaronhairee): Aaron envisions a switch in the defensive pairing. He points out Lagerbielke’s impressive stint in Saturday’s match as a strong reason for a starting spot. He also anticipates Palma earning his place in the lineup following a notable performance off the bench, especially when considering Yang’s poor display against Dundee.
Predicted Lineup: Hart, Johnston, Lagerbielke, Philips, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Maeda, Kyogo, Palma.
Josh (@Joshmcc_05)
Echoing Craig’s defensive pairing, Josh expects Scales to retain his spot in the team. However, he predicts a change upfront, with Yang making way for Palma in the lineup.
Predicted Lineup: Hart, Johnston, Scales, Philips, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Maeda, Kyogo, Palma.
I will not be watching this game tonight – don’t think my nervous system could handle it. All this talk of large sections of the game being backs to the wall for Celtic angers me. Why should Celtic be backs to the wall against a team like Feyenoord? Ok, there a good Dutch side, but hardly Real Madrid and they’re missing both their main strikers.
This competition, I believe, is where the criminla lack of decent investment in defence will come back to haunt Celtic. Lawwell was waxing lyrical to the Stock Exchange about Celtic’s £40m profit this year and how it’s all down to their model of improving “project” players. Well, that’s fine but the model will be found out tonight, I think, when we go up against decent opposition.
I hate to sound negative about a team that has a good midfield forward, but that defence couldn’t keep the weans out of the close. They were lucky against a faltering Rangers at Ibrox, but I don’t see them keeping out a team with the better quality of Feyenoord. It shouldn’t be like this, so thanks Mr. Lawwell.
If, by some miracle, Celtic get anything from that game tonight, then it will be my great pleasure to bow my head in shame and apologise for my pessimistic outlook. How I would love to be humbled on this occasion!