Celtic face Kairat Almaty in Glasgow on Wednesday. It's the first leg of the Champions League playoff between the two clubs. Two very important games which will set the scene for the season ahead, and perhaps lead to a series of signings. At least that is what the supporters are hoping for at this point in time.
Celtic fans have been left frustrated in this transfer window. That’s a fairly common scenario, but it feels worse as we’d all hoped to see more quality added ahead of this playoff.
We’ve also seen several players leave in recent months with no replacements arriving, like Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn. Now, even if a player deal is finalised ahead of Wednesday night, it’s already unlikely we’d see them feature on the pitch. Perhaps in the second leg, if a signing is agreed soon.
That all means that the Celtic starting XI for Wednesday night is very predictable. Sure there will be some question marks over a few players, others will hope to make a start. But with such a huge game and the need to get off to a great start in this first leg, Rodgers is likely to have a preferred lineup. Here’s how we see it.
Celtic predicted lineup vs Kairat Almaty
At the back, Kasper Schmeichel will return after Viljami Sinisalo stepped up for the League Cup match against Falkirk. Ahead of him will be Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, and Kieran Tierney. Auston Trusty did well in pre-season, but Rodgers seems to prefer the Irishman ahead of him. It’s not the sort of match where Jahmai Simpson-Pusey makes his debut. Hopefully, that's a strong defence.
In midfield, Rodgers has of late left Arne Engels on the bench for a few games. He did well against Falkirk on Friday. We feel he will retain his place for Wednesday. He’ll be joined there by Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor. It’s a tried, tested, and trusted midfield, proven at the Champions League level. We reckon Rodgers will prefer that and leave new signing Benjamin Nygren as a later impact sub.
Upfront is potentially where Celtic have gaps, fewer options, and a shortage of wingers and centre forwards. They do have Daizen Maeda who showed a return to form and goals on Friday night. There is also James Forrest, who was on sparkling form then too. That’s the two wide players. It’s too big a game to see anything other than Adam Idah start up front. There are no other real alternatives for a matchup of this magnitude despite the Irishman's poor run of form.
Yang, Johnny Kenny, or Shin Yamada, along with Nygren, will be used from the bench to add a different boost upfront if and when needed. That may also depend on how the match is going and the scoreline.
Here’s the predicted lineup again for our biggest game so far this season. Let’s hope for a great result and a strong lead for the second leg.
Schmeichel
Johnston
Carter-Vickers
Scales
Tierney
Engels
McGregor
Hatate
Maeda
Idah
Forrest