Predicting Celtic's Starting XI against Manchester City
European Nights are upon Celtic Park once again, with the second match of Champions League Group C action upon us. It means a meeting with one of the recent giants of English football — Manchester City.
Celtic will look to avoid further embarrassment following its 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Barcelona at the Camp Nou the last time out.
What lineup will Celtic put out to stop the bleeding and hopefully continue a crazy streak of points at home in UCL action? After all, Celtic have lost just three matches in the history of Champions League play at Paradise.
Let’s look at Celtic’s likely lineup as we see it.
Goalkeeper:
Craig Gordon
Goalkeeper, Celtic
Celtic Defenders:
Celtic’s Swedish defender Mikael Lustig vies with Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Neymar (L) during the UEFA Champions League football match FC Barcelona vs Celtic FC at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on September 13, 2016. / AFP / JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
As important as the goalkeeper will be, Celtic’s defense needs to stand strong in front of him. It certainly didn’t do much of that in the last UCL match, and Brendan Rodgers’ choices here are going to be vital.
What will be interesting to see is if Rodgers attempts to get some speed on the wings, and that means a debate between Mikael Lustig and Cristian Gamboa on the left side of defense.
Mikael Lustig
D, Celtic
Lustig has been a mainstay in Brendan Rodgers’ lineup and he has to be one that makes a start against Man City. However, he will be challenged big time by the likes of Sergio Aguero and if he can’t get up the pitch to help the wing play in attack it could be a long day for the Bhoys. Dare we say he may be the most intriguing player to watch in this matchup?28
Eric Sviatchenko
D, Celtic
Celtic has seen a sea change at central defense, and it appears that Eric Sviatchenko is Rodgers’ first choice to play in the middle of defense. His play certainly has warranted him being trusted. However, one could argue that he has also supplanted Kolo Toure in the lineup. Expect Sviatchenko to start and Toure to be available off the bench. 5
Jozo Simunovic
D, Celtic
The other reason to think that Kolo Toure will be on the bench has been the emergence of Jozo Simunovic as a real option now that he is healthy. The pairing of Sviatchenko and Simunovic has been dynamite together and splitting them up seems a fools errand in this matchup against Manchester City. Simply put, they have begun to show why they are the best two options of Celtic’s central defenders. 63
Kieran Tierney
D, Celtic
Celtic Midfield:
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 17: Scott Brown of Celtic celebrates his goal( Celtic’s 5th) during the UEFA Champions League, Qualifying Play-Off 1st Leg between Celtic and Hapoel Be’er Sheva at Celtic Park on August 17, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)
Patrick Roberts versus the side that has him loaned out to us? Please make that happen.
However juicy a storyline that may be, one has to seriously wonder if it really will happen given what Rodgers has put on the pitch as of late. If there is a debate in the midfield it seems to be who is going to start out on the left side, because there’s been plenty of Roberts and plenty of Tom Rogic as well.
Here is our guess…
Tom Rogic
LM, Celtic
As much fun as it would be to see Patrick Roberts taking on the defense of the team he belongs to, the reality is that Tom Rogic is in some fine form after this weekend. The question for Rodgers is what type of play does he need out of the left side of midfield. Ultimately, Rogic may not be as creative, but he is better at holding up the ball and not giving it away needlessly. That means he wins out and gets the start. 6
Nir Bitton
CM, Celtic
Bitton and Brown are locked in as the first-choice starters in the middle of Rodgers’ midfield. Nothing changes heading in to the Man City match, except these two have to come up bigger than they have in the last few weeks. That’s especially true of Bitton, who has seen his production and work rate fall behind Brown’s in the past few matches we’ve seen them play together. 8
Scott Brown
CM, Celtic
Captain, my captain, can you make Manchester City fear playing up the middle of the pitch? Brown has to establish a presence in the middle of the pitch or it could be a long day given how Pep Guardiola likes to play his football. Brown has been up to physical challenges most of his career, but he needs to be the player that gets in the heads of Man City if the Bhoys want to get them out of their game. 11
Scott Sinclair
LM, Celtic
Celtic Strikers:
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 03: Leigh Griffiths of Celtic reacts as he misses a fine chance to score during the UEFA Champions League, Third Round, Second Leg between Celtic and Astana at Celtic Park on AUGUST 3, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)
It has to be all hands on deck for this match, and that means we’re likely to see a 4-4-2 lineup here. That means an interesting experiment that hasn’t been tried since earlier this season is likely to be seen…
Leigh Griffiths
F, Celtic
Griffiths is back, and having him will be vital to whatever attack Celtic musters in this match. No Hoops player has the ability to strike out of nowhere like Griffiths does and that will be important given the likelihood that Celtic won’t have much in the way of sustained possession in this match. 10
Moussa Dembele
F, Celtic
Some believe that Rodgers would rather have another midfielder, but I’d argue that Dembele is a perfect option to lay off of Griffiths and now that he has been in form on the goal-scoring front, it is hard not to have him in a match like this. Look for him to the be the link and allow Sinclair to float more in the midfield, as their relationship up front has been golden.
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