Predicted Celtic XI to face St. Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership
Celtic booked their seats in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bosnian giants Sarajevo in the playoffs on Thursday night, thanks to Odsonne Edouard’s second-half strike.
Neil Lennon’s side are now set to turn their focus back to the Scottish Premiership with a trip to St. Johnstone on Sunday. The Hoops are currently placed second in the league standings, just a point behind arch-rivals Rangers with a game in hand.
St. Johnstone have won only two of their nine league fixtures so far and the Hoops will be the outright favourites to come away with all three points against Callum Davidson’s side.
Team News
Nir Bitton (ankle) was the latest addition to Celtic’s growing injury list. Christopher Jullien (back) remained an unused substitute against Sarajevo, with the Frenchman yet to completely recover from his injury. James Forrest (calf) and Albian Ajeti (hamstring) are both ruled out for the weekend trip to St. Johnstone.
Predicted Celtic XI
Manager: Neil Lennon
Formation: 3-5-2
Vasilios Barkas (GK)
The Greek international has established himself as Celtic’s undisputed No.1 between the sticks this season. He should retain his place after another merited clean sheet against Sarajevo.
Hatem Abd Elhamed (RCB)
The Israeli star put in a solid shift at the back after coming off the bench in the last game. He should be amongst the starters against St. Johnstone if Jullien is not considered fit enough to start.
Shane Duffy (CB)
The Brighton loanee has been in sensational form for the Hoops and there’s no way he’s going to be left out of the starting XI.
Kristoffer Ajer (LCB)
The Norwegian remains a key cog at the back for Lennon and is expected to start once again on Sunday.
Scott Brown (CDM)
The Hoops skipper had a solid outing in the Europa League playoff win over Sarajevo and while he can certainly do with a bit of rest, it seems unlikely that he’ll get a breather on Sunday.
Olivier Ntcham (RCM)
The Frenchman could return to the starting XI for the weekend trip to St. Johnstone if Lennon opts to rest Christie after an energy-sapping tie against Sarajevo.
Callum McGregor (LCM)
The Hoops graduate remains an essential cog in the middle of the park for the champions with his work-rate and creativity.
Jeremie Frimpong (RWB)
The former Man City youngster has been quite brilliant in a more attacking wing-back role for Celtic this season and the fans will be expecting big things from him on Sunday.
Greg Taylor (LWB)
The left-back has been clearly overworked over the past two months but Lennon doesn’t really have a back-up in that department.
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Odsonne Edouard (ST)
The Frenchman scored his first goal in four games on Thursday to send Celtic through to the Europa League group stage. He is unlikely to be rested against St. Johnstone with Ajeti and Forrest on the sidelines.
Mohamed Elyounoussi (ST)
The Southampton loanee has been in good form in recent times and will be expected to deliver the goods once again this weekend.
