Following their disappointing result to Feyenoord on Tuesday night, Celtic will travel to the Toni Macaroni Arena to face David Martindale and his Livingston side.
In what has traditionally been a difficult away venue for the champions, Celtic have gotten the better of the Lions on the past couple of occasions, winning all of their games since the 1-0 defeat in Ange Postecoglou’s first season in charge.
Brendan Rodgers will be looking to end a small but meaningful record, as it is one of the only grounds in Scotland that the returning manager has not managed a win at, despite only travelling there once during the 2018/19 season.
The Irishman was to leave the club a few months later, with Neil Lennon returning to the manager’s hot seat after a few years away. Indeed, Lennon also did not manage to win a game at the elusive ground, with it taking until 2022 for the side to record a victory away from home against Livingston.
Rodgers faces a couple of selection dilemmas, which hopefully will be cleared up by the time he speaks to the media later today. Will he elect to go for Reo Hatate, who had an admittedly disappointing outing in Rotterdam, or will he pick David Turnbull, who had been starting the previous games in the absence of the Japan international?
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Furthermore, there is a decision to make regarding the wingers, as Luis Palma made his first start for the club on Tuesday in the Champions League. Will the Honduran wide man get the nod, or will it be a return to the side for Yang Hyun-jun in one of the two vacant wing spots in the team? Again, all this will be closer to being revealed when Rodgers faces the mainstream media in his pre-match press conference later this afternoon.
Following his competitive debut under Rodgers, Tomoki Iwata will be looking for more game-time, though he faces a battle getting in the team ahead of the likes of Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley or the aforementioned Hatate and Turnbull. After signing for the club permanently in the summer from Yokohama F Marinos, the versatile midfielder has found minutes extremely hard to come by, which may prompt a move away in January.
Join Ryan McGinlay and special guest Ryan Fitzsimons in the video below, as they discuss these topics and more in Thursday’s morning briefing.
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