Celtic will seek to advance higher Champions League scores this afternoon as they prepare to travel to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb away from Glasgow.
Hoops is right now 20th in the league stage and are four points clear of the bottom 12, which would see them crash out of the competition with three games to play.
They face a Dynamo side who have seven points, one behind Celtic and could provide a tough challenge for Brendan Rodgersside tonight.
The Scottish giants have made a strong start to the Champions League season, with one defeat in five games, and held Club Brugge to a 1-1 draw last time out in the competition.
Celtic’s last game, however, was in the Scottish Premiership and ended with a 3-0 win over Hibernian at Parkhead to extend their lead at the top of the table.
The hoops are now nine points clear top of the Premiership after goals from Arne Engels, an own goal from Joe Newell and Kyogo Furuhashi secured all three points against Hibs.
Despite the comfortable scoreline for the home side, Rodgers could make some changes to his starting line-up, starting with a change in defence.
Why must Liam Scales fall
Cameron Carter-Vickers was rested against Hibernian and that meant two left-footed defenders in Liam Scales and Ashton Trusty were selected from the start.
The former Tottenham centre-back’s presence was lost at the back for the Hoops as away created five “big opportunities” in the match, despite only having 26% of the ball.
Fortunately, Kasper Schmeichel was on hand to do one an impressive nine savesseven of which were from shots from inside the box to keep it clean and prevent some sloppy defending from Celtic from ruining the scoring.
Hibernian found it very easy to get behind Trusty and Scales, with the former often closest to putting any pressure on the forwards when they crossed.
Carter-Vickers and Trusty were the centre-backs selected for the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, which Celtic won 6-0, and the last two Champions League fixtures – a win over RB Leipzig and a draw with Club Brugge and Rodgers. he could drop Scales from the starting lineup to bring this pairing back.
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However, the Ireland international is not the only player who could be left out of the squad for tonight’s clash in Croatia, and not even the only Irishman.
Why Adam Idah should be rejected
The summer transfer from Norwich City, Adam Idahe was selected to lead the line against Hibernian and had the chance to show Rodgers that he can be a starting number nine for the club.
He had scored three goals in his previous three Premiership games for the club, with two goals against Hearts and a brilliant strike against Ross County in a 5-0 win for the Scottish giants.
Unfortunately, the Ireland international has not been able to step up and be at his best to push for a regular place in the starting line-up, which could be why he could be dropped from the squad for tonight’s game.
The 6ft 3 marksman had two “big chances” to find the back of the net against Hibernian but left his lines both times, failing to beat the keeper on both occasions.
|
Adam Ida |
against Hibernian |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
67 |
|
Shots |
3 |
|
Big opportunities missed |
2 |
|
Great opportunities were created |
1 |
|
Duels won |
2/5 |
As you can see in the table above, Aida missed two “big chances” out of three shots on goal on Saturday and lost the majority of his physical duels with opposing defenders.
However, he created a “big chance” for his team-mates but was not rewarded with an assist for his efforts. That doesn’t make up for how wasteful the former Norwich man was with the chances that came his way in the box.
This is why Rogers has to ditch Ida, to whom he was given a 6/10 rating from 67 HailHailfrom the starting line-up and bring Kyogo Furuhashi back into the squad for this Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb.
Why Kyogo Furuhashi should start
While the Japan international hasn’t had a perfect start to the season for the Scottish giants, the Celtic star produced a moment of magic with his goal off the bench on Saturday.
James Forrest played a ball into the box and Kyogho let the ball go between his legs before countering with his right foot on the turn and diving the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net to make it 3 -0.
It was a sensational piece of skill and showed the kind of invention the experienced striker can bring to the top of the pitch when he’s at his best.
However, the 29-year-old striker hasn’t always been at his best this season as the wasteful forward missed a 14 “great opportunities” in ten Premiership starts, along with three in four Champions League starts.
Once former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou named Kyogo “threat” and that best sums up the striker, who constantly puts himself in good positions to score.
|
Champions League 24/25 |
Kyogo Furuhashi |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
5 |
|
It starts |
4 |
|
xG |
2.36 |
|
Goals |
1 |
|
Dribble success rate |
60% |
|
Duel success rate |
42% |
As you can see in the table above, he has amassed 2.36 xG in his four Champions League starts so far this season, but has only scored one goal.
Interestingly, he has never scored away from home in Europe, but the stats show that the £19,000 a week The dynamo has been in excellent positions in front of goal and the finishing action has let him down at times.
Kyogo scored 81 goals in 153 appearances in all competitions and that suggests the goals will come, as they did against Hibernian on Saturday, which is why Rodgers should bring him into the starting line-up after Aida’s struggles last time out.
