Rodgers’ Ideal Starting XI? Strongest 4-2-3-1 Celtic Line-Up To Face Ross County

Predicted Celtic Lineup To Face Ross County

With the title safely won and only a week until Celtic play Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final, don’t be surprised if Brendan Rodgers decides to rest a few key players for the trip to Dingwall. Surely, the cup semi-final would be the priority now for Brendan Rodgers and a number of changes might be done to the Celtic lineup.

Mikael Lustig, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown and Scott Sinclair may all be rested to keep the squad fresh, with Gamboa, Izaguirre, Sviatchenko, Bitton and Dembele all ready for a return to the starting XI.

Expected Starting XI:

Manager: Brendan Rodgers

Formation: 4-2-3-1

GK – Craig Gordon

The 34-year-old could technically still have his best goalkeeping days ahead of him having been out of the game for a while. Not much will get past the former Hearts man here.

RB – Cristian Gamboa

Mikael Lustig is likely to be needed in the cup semi-final, so the former West Brom man may step in here. The Costa Rican has played 14 games in his first season in Scotland and needs more game time.

CB – Dedryck Boyata

The Belgian may move across to the right side of the central defensive partnership this time, thus providing the window to rest Simunovic.

CB – Erik Sviatchenko

Fresh from having been omitted from the starting line-up last time, the Denmark international may regain his spot as the second centre-back.

LB – Emilio Izaguirre

Kieran Tierney is a hot property and definitely no.1 choice now at left-back. However, he is young and fragile and could make way for the more experienced Izaguirre here with a view to coming back in fresh next week. For his part, Izaguirre will not let anyone down in this position.

CM – Nir Bitton

Should Rodgers decide to rest his captain Scott Brown, he has a ready-made replacement in Bitton who should be match sharp with 23 games under his belt.

CM – Callum McGregor

The 23-year-old is finding his feat as a first-team regular now and could make what would be his 39^th appearance of the season in all competitions.

RW – Patrick Roberts

It’s difficult to know how Rodgers will shuffle his front four, but it is possible that Dembele will be back up front and that Roberts will be cutting in from the right onto his left foot.

CAM – Gary Mackay-Steven

With Armstrong and Sinclair being the potential absentees, Mackay-Steven may get another chance to impress. He will be eager to prove a point to Rodgers.

LW – James Forrest

Comfortable on either flank, Forrest can use his pace to good effect in this game and will certainly worry the home defence.

ST – Moussa Dembele

Having made a return from injury, Dembele may be given a start and a chance to improve his fitness up front. He may well make way later in the game before starting against Rangers next week.