Celtic facing tricky balancing act - not least with Kyogo Furuhashi
It has been well-documented this week that Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is going to ring this changes for Thursday’s Europa League Group G tie at home to Real Betis.
The Spanish visitors are assured of second place in the pool, while Celtic are booked for third place and will drop into the Europa Conference League knock-out play-off round.
Postecoglou is dealing with injuries to his squad and a hectic schedule, although he will want to make sure his team is competitive against Betis. There is also the carrot of £535,000 in prize money for the winners.
Celtic are likely to stick with Joe Hart in goal to offer experience to the defence, while Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt pair up at centre-half. Josip Juranovic is set to play at right-back, while Postecoglou will pick between Greg Taylor – recently recovered from a shoulder injury – and youngster Adam Montgomery.
Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy are pushing for starts in midfield, while Mikey Johnston should get more minutes on the flanks. Kyogo Furushashi has been in fine form leading the attack, but Albian Ajeti may get a chance to give the Japanese some rest. With Jota out with a hamstring injury, Postecoglou would not want to lose his talisman.
Predicted Celtic team: Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Montgomery; Soro, McCarthy, Turnbull; Forrest, Furuhashi, Johnston. Subs from: Bain, Taylor, Bolingoli, Scales, Welsh, Rogic, McGregor, Bitton, Abada, Ajeti.