Celtic and Neil Lennon will undoubtedly be furious over their recent loss to arch rivals Rangers on home soil. The Old Firm derby saw the Hoops concede a 2-0 result, just their second defeat in their last ten matches. Now, attention shifts to this evening where they will play host to AC Milan in their group stage match in the Europa League.
A few senior Celtic players put in disappointing performances against the Gers, which could mean for a switch up of personnel tonight. Football FanCast has predicted how Lennon may opt to line up against the Italians…
The trusted, regular back four – including Vasilis Barkas – should remain untouched except for Lennon’s choice to deploy reserve centre-back Steven Welsh against Rangers. After earning a Sofascore rating of just 6.4 and losing possession 17 times, the manager could call upon senior member Christopher Jullien once again.
The 27-year-old has sat out of Celtic’s last seven fixtures after being dropped in favour of Hatem Abd Elhamed and Nir Bitton. However, both players have been forced to withdraw from the squad and self-isolate due to testing positive for Covid-19 (via Transfermarkt).
Olivier Ntcham is likely to be dropped after his woeful performance in the Old Firm. The Frenchman really struggled in the middle of the park, making just 11 passes and losing possession 13 times (via Sofascore). The midfielder also failed to contribute any creative play to Celtic’s attack and Lennon cannot afford to field stagnancy against a side like Milan.
Diego Laxalt could also be swapped out to make room for Greg Taylor on the left. The 22-year-old missed out on a starting spot against Rangers but had a solid performance in the Hoops’ previous win against St Johnstone.
Odsonne Edouard is out due to illness whilst Patryk Klimala failed to register a single shot against Rangers, so Albian Ajeti should be paired with Mohamed Elyounoussi as the two strikers will give Celtic a good chance of causing Stefano Poli’s side some harm.
In other news, Celtic have a new Van Dijk in Kristoffer Ajer but that only spells trouble…