Celtic face Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday and it’s another big game for the Bhoys in this title race.
After Rangers defeated Hibernian at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, Celtic need a win to move back to the top of the table ahead of next week’s huge derby clash.
Brendan Rodgers is slowly getting his squad back to full strength for the title run-in but there will be several notable absentees again in West Lothian.
It has been confirmed that captain Callum McGregor won’t play, in part because the manager doesn’t want to risk a potential injury set-back on Livingston’s artificial pitch.
Elsewhere, Luis Palma is set to miss out despite making progress on his recent injury. Hyunjun Yang is another doubt after feeling ‘tightness’ in the wake of a busy international break.
The good news is that Reo Hatate is again available for selection after his extensive injury problems this season.
Potential Celtic team vs Livingston
Joe Hart will take his place in goal, returning to the scene of his sending-off back in September. He’ll be eager to enjoy a much smoother afternoon than that one.
With Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales working on their fitness over the international break rather than heading off with their countries, they are the expected pairing in defence. They’ll likely be flanked by Alistair Johnston and Greg Taylor.
Despite Hatate’s availability, it would be a big ask for him to start this one given he has barely played any football for months. It would make more sense for him to come off the bench for half an hour in the second half.
That gives us a potential midfield three of Tomoki Iwata, Matt O’Riley and Paulo Bernardo, with Daniel Kelly also available to feature as a substitute.
In attack, Daizen Maeda is a must-pick after his superb display at the same venue earlier in the season. Given there are fitness issues for Palma and Yang, Nicolas Kuhn is a good bet to build on his good form before the break.
Kyogo Furuhashi will be keen to continue his scoring as the central striking option, too, with Adam Idah ready in reserve if needed.
Your predicted XI in full is: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, Iwata, Bernardo, O’Riley, Kuhn, Maeda, Kyogo.