Celtic take on Livingston on Saturday and, thankfully for Christopher Jullien, they will do so without Lyndon Dykes in their ranks, playing on grass also seems to blunt the West Lothian side’s limited style of play which is a strange phenomenon in the year 2020.
Gary Holt’s side currently sit 11th in the Scottish Premiership with just one win from their seven league fixtures so far and two draws, one of those being a 0-0 result at home against those from across the city.
This week has seen them lose Anthony Stokes before he even kicked a ball for the club with the main reason for his departure being that he couldn’t adapt to training on an artificial surface, not many in Scottish football would blame him.
Having tinkered in mid-week to secure an uninspiring 2-1 win against St Mirren it would be a surprise to see Neil Lennon go with anything other than his strongest XI and a return for Jullien and Albian Ajeti, personally I’d rather see David Turnbull come into the team to give Scott Brown a rest but I don’t think it will happen.
Celtic v Livi - score prediction
Draw
1-0
2-0
3-0+
Ryan Christie should retain his spot at the expense of Olivier Ntcham after two assists in Paisley but wing-back remains the biggest area of debate, Greg Taylor is still the only natural player for the left-hand side but the gaffer will probably revert to the two that performed so well against Ross County.
This is the line-up that he should go for to ensure an easy afternoon against the Lions:
We need to see an improved performance and structure as to how the midfield is working in both defence and attack, the final third doesn’t really seem to be a problem when Ajeti and Edouard are playing together but there still seems to be an issue in transition from attack to defence.
In terms of predictions, without Dykes, Livi are a shadow of their former selves and a comfortable afternoon should be enjoyed by those of a green and white persuasion, 3-0 to the Hoops and Shane Duffy to score anytime looking like a decent shout.