Opinion: Predicting Celtic’s line-up to play Hearts

It isn’t going to be easy picking the Celtic side which will line-up against Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday night.

A combination of injuries and international duty means that the Hoops are going to be without a lot of key players for such a big game.

That will make selecting a side difficult for Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, but he must be used to having to deal with injuries by now, as the Hoops have had a lot of them this season.

With the Hoops still four points behind Rangers at the top of the league, it is vital that Celtic get the three points to stay in touch ahead of the Glasgow derby next midweek.

The good news for Celtic is that there are no new injuries in defence, so Postecoglou can play his strongest possible side at the back.

That will mean that goalkeeper Joe Hart, and centre-backs Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers will get the nod to play.

The full-back situation will be interesting, and the fact that Josip Juranovic and Greg Taylor were left out of the side to face Alloa might indicate that they will start against Hearts, at right-back and left-back respectively.

Now we come to the biggest question mark in the team that will be selected, and that is who will play in midfield for the Hoops. One player that seems certain to start is Nir Bitton, who can play in a holding midfield role. But who will be the other two in the side?

Reo Hatate, who was excellent on his debut against Hibernian should get the nod to start, as he looks like he is more than capable of keeping then recycling the ball, which will be very important for the Hoops on the night.

As for the more attacking midfielder, Matt O’Riley could well get the nod to make his Celtic debut. It would definitely be a big ask for the player to make the leap from MK Dons in League One to the Premiership, but Celtic must have bought him if they believe he can make that jump, so he gets the nod to start.

Up front Celtic are limited in choices, but not as much as in defence. For the front three, it will likely be James Forrest and Jota on the wings, with Giorgos Giakoumakis the focal point through the middle. Liel Abada can come off the bench to provide Celtic with some attacking impact if need be.

So the predicted Celtic line-up is: Hart, Taylor, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Juranovic; Bitton, Hatate, O’Riley; Forrest, Giakoumakis, Jota.

That might not be the team that would start for the Hoops every week, but it could be good enough to get what would be a huge win at Tynecastle.