Brendan Rodgers has urged his Celtic team to ‘show the power’ of the Parkhead crowd when they face Club Brugge on matchday five of the Champions League tonight.
Seven points from their first four matches have given the Hoops a serious chance of reaching the knockout phase, with Rodgers‘ side looking to make it three wins from three against Belgian champions Brugge. Celtic come into the game off the back of a handsome 4-1 away victory against Hearts but the visitors are in fine fettle themselves having smashed Sint-Truidense 7-0 last weekend.
The Scottish champions will be wary of the threats posed by Christos Tzolis – who netted four against Truidense – and Spanish forward Ferran Jutgla, but will be more focused on what they can do to hurt the Belgians, who claimed a shock 1-0 Champions League victory against John McGinn’s Aston Villa earlier this month. Kyogo and Adam Idah have both given Rodgers food for thought after getting on the scoresheet at Tynecastle, with Republic of Ireland star Idah coming off the bench to net a brace.
But the Celtic manager is likely to go with the tried and tested formula, which should see Kyogo get the nod. Red-hot Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda are shoo-ins to start on the flanks and provide Celtic with the pace and trickery to cause their European counterparts some serious problems.
The biggest dilemma facing Rodgers is in midfield. £11milliion summer signing Arne Engels is still trying to find his feet in green-and-white and Paulo Bernardo’s impressive cameo in Gorgie on Saturday could see the former Benfica man take the Belgium international’s place alongside skipper Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate.
At the back, Auston Trusty continues to battle it out with Liam Scales to hold down the starting berth next to Cameron Carter-Vickers while Alex Valle could be reintroduced to the team at left back despite Greg Taylor’s return to fitness. Record Sport looks at how Celtic may line up.
Provisional Celtic squad
Goalkeepers
- Kasper Schmeichel
- Viljami Sinisalo
- Scott Bain
Defenders
- Alistair Johnston
- Greg Taylor
- Liam Scales
- Auston Trusty
- Alex Valle
- Maik Nawrocki
- Cameron Carter-Vickers
- Anthony Ralston
- Stephen Welsh
Midfielders
- Reo Hatate
- Luis Palma
- Nicolas Kuhn
- Yang Hyun-jun
- Luke McCowan
- Arne Engels
- Paulo Bernardo
- Callum McGregor
- James Forrest
Forwards
- Kyogo Furuhashi
- Adam Idah
- Daizen Maeda