Celtic were knocked out of the Europa League earlier this week by Valencia after they were defeated 3-0 on aggregate in the round of 32.
Brendan Rodgers’ men have to regroup and turn their attention to domestic affairs now as they are in a strong position to clinch the Scottish crown for the eighth time on the trot.
The Glasgow giants are due to host Steve Robinson’s Motherwell at the Celtic Park tomorrow in their next Scottish Premiership fixture.
The Steelmen, notably, have won all of their last six league games and are in a rich vein of form. Impliedly, the clash between these two sides promises to be an exciting one at the onset.
Celtic are placed at the top of the league standings and have a healthy lead of eight points over their arch-rivals Rangers who are placed second.
Celtic Team News
Kieran Tierney is back in contention to start following his return from hip injury. However, Scott Brown will be unavailable as his dramatic celebrations after scoring the winning goal against Kilmarnock earned him a red card.
While Daniel Arzani and Eboue Kouassi are out for the rest of the season, Olivier Ntcham, Anthony Ralston, Filip Benkovic, Tom Rogic, and Leigh Griffiths also remain sidelined.
PREDICTED CELTIC LINEUP VS MOTHERWELL (4-2-3-1)
Defence
Scott Bain is expected to be in goal as usual. The shot-stopper has not conceded even a single goal in domestic competitions this year and will be aiming to add another clean sheet to his name.
Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer are expected to line up in central defence. The two of them have been immense in marshalling the troops from the back and have formed an excellent understanding.
Jonny Hayes could be replaced by Tierney in the left-back spot, while Mikael Lustig might be recalled to the starting lineup at right-back after a few sluggish performances by Jeremy Toljan in recent games.
Midfield
In the absence of Brown, Rodgers might hand a rare start to Nir Bitton. The Israel international has mustered just three substitute appearances this season for the Bhoys and might get the chance to make his presence felt.
Alongside Bitton, Callum McGregor could be deployed to provide urgency and inventiveness with his ability to pick out passes. Meanwhile, Ryan Christie is likely to operate as the central attacking midfielder yet again.
Attack
Odsonne Edouard might start this weekend as the spearhead. The Frenchman has scored 9 goals in 21 league games so far this season and will look to cause all sorts of trouble for the back-line of the visiting side.
James Forrest and Scott Sinclair have fared well on the flanks and Rodgers is expected to persist with the duo as he looks to leave behind the disappointment of the valiant midweek defeat.
