Rodgers must drop 6/10 man to unleash big Celtic “threat”

Celtic will be looking to move further up the Champions League standings this evening as they prepare to travel to Croatia to take on Dinamo Zagreb away from Glasgow.

The Hoops are currently 20th in the league phase and are four points ahead of the bottom 12, which would see them knocked out of the competition, with three matches left to play.

They are up against a Dinamo side that is on seven points, one fewer than Celtic, and could provide a tough challenge for Brendan Rodgers’ side tonight.

The Scottish giants have enjoyed a strong start to the season in the Champions League, with one defeat in five matches, and they 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 at the 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 hosts, Rodgers could look to make some changes to his starting line-up, starting with an alteration in defence.

Why Liam Scales should be dropped

Cameron Carter-Vickers was rested against Hibernian and that meant that two left-footed defenders in Liam Scales and Auston Trusty were selected from the start.

The former Tottenham Hotspur central defender’s presence was missed at the back for the Hoops as the away side created five ‘big chances’ in the match, despite only having 26% of the ball.

Thankfully, Kasper Schmeichel was on hand to make a stunning nine saves, seven of which were from shots from inside of the box, to keep the clean sheet and prevent some sloppy defending from Celtic from ruining the scoreline.

Hibernian found it far too easy to break in behind of Trusty and Scales, with the former often the one closest to putting any pressure on the forwards when they did get through.

Carter-Vickers and Trusty were the centre-backs picked for the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, which Celtic won 6-0, and the last two Champions League clashes – a win over RB Leipzig and a draw with Club Brugge, and Rodgers could drop Scales from the starting XI to bring that pairing back together.

The Ireland international is not the only player who could be taken out of the line-up for tonight’s clash in Croatia, though, and not even the only Irishman.

Why Adam Idah should be dropped

The summer signing from Norwich City, Adam Idah, was selected to lead the line against Hibernian and he had an opportunity to show Rodgers that he can be the main number nine for the club.

He had scored three goals in his previous three Premiership matches for the club, with two goals against Hearts and one brilliant strike against Ross County in a 5-0 win for the Scottish giants.

Unfortunately, the Ireland international was unable to step up and showcase the best of his abilities to push for a regular spot in the starting XI, which is why he could be instantly dropped from the team for tonight’s match.

The 6 foot 3 marksman had two ‘big chances’ to find the back of the net against Hibernian but fluffed his lines both times, failing to beat the goalkeeper on both occasions.

As you can see in the table above, Idah missed two ‘big chances’ from three shots on goal on Saturday and lost the majority of his physical duels with opposition defenders.

He did, however, create one ‘big chance’ for his teammates but was not rewarded with an assist for his efforts. That does not make up for how wasteful the former Norwich man was with the opportunities that came his way in the box, though.

That is why Rodgers must ditch Idah, who was handed a 6/10 rating by 67HailHail, from the starting XI and bring Kyogo Furuhashi back into the side for this clash with Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

Why Kyogo Furuhashi should start

Whilst the Japan international has not 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 threaded a ball through into the box and Kyogo expertly let the ball go between his legs before controlling on his right foot on the spin and dinking the ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to make it 3-0.

It was a sensational bit of skill and showcased the kind of invention that the experienced forward can bring at the top end of the pitch when he is at his best.

The 29-year-old attacker has not always been at his best this season, though, as the wasteful forward has missed a whopping 14 ‘big chances’ in ten starts in the Premiership, along with three in four starts in the Champions League.

Former Celtic head coach Ange Postecoglou once dubbed Kyogo a “threat” and that best sums up the striker, who constantly gets himself into good positions to score.

As you can see in the table above, he has racked up 2.36 xG in the four starts in the Champions League so far this season, but has only scored one goal.

Interestingly, he has never actually scored away from home in Europe, but the stats do showcase that the £19k-per-week dynamo has been getting himself into great positions in front of goal, and the final action has just let him down at times.

Kyogo has scored 81 goals in 153 appearances in all competitions and this suggests that the goals will come, as one did against Hibernian on Saturday, and that is why Rodgers should bring him into the starting XI after Idah’s struggles last time out.