Celtic will look to claim their seventh Scottish Premiership win in a row when they travel to Hibs
The starting lineup for Celtic’s Saturday afternoon matchup at Easter Road against Hibs has been announced by manager Brendan Rodgers.
While the Hoops’ 2-2 draw against the Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid is by no means a bad showing, there will be a small sense of disappointment that Celtic was unable to secure all three points considering that the team from the Spanish capital was reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes remaining.
There’s a distinct kind of capital challenge on Saturday. The Hibs have been inconsistent throughout the season, but under Nick Montgomery, they have only lost once in six games, showing that they are a difficult team to beat. Rangers, who defeated Celtic 4-0 the previous weekend, are a team that Celtic might learn from, but Rodgers knows that they’ll be a formidable opponent.
Prior to the match, Rodgers stated: “I think Nick’s approach is absolutely admirable. With that mindset, he is obviously just getting started and trying to play an aggressive game. I went through that many years ago in my early phases, so I’m sure a lot of people are telling him it’s not the way to go or do it.
“I like that they’re trying to build the game from behind, work their way through the lines with speed and quality and looking to play an attacking game. It’s the traditions of Hibs as a club that I’ve ever known they’ve always played good football and he’s looking to implement his ideas to the club and team. There’s been some really good performances so it’ll be a tough game for us.
“They want to play but there’s no right or wrong style or system, it’s about what the manager believes in and works on every day, studied through his career. You only really know what your philosophy is when you’re stood on the touchline under pressure. When the light’s shining, the curtains go back and the crowd are on top of you.
“Nick’s obviously very clear in how he wants to work which is great, you need that inherent belief.”
Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Bernardo, O’Riley, Palma, Maeda, Kyogo are the members of the Celtic starting lineup.
Subs: Oh, Tomoki, Forrest, Ralston, Johnston, Bain, Phillips, Yang, Turnbull, and Oh
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