There’s no strain on Celtic’s shoulders on Saturday as the Bhoys square off at home to St Mirren in the last Scottish Premiership encounter of the season.
With the title decided on Wednesday night, today is all about celebrating the trophy win and the accomplishments of these players this season.
Brendan Rodgers, on the other hand, will want to maintain positive momentum on the pitch with a big Scottish Cup Final against Rangers coming up next Saturday.
As a result, there are two schools of thought on team selection: rest all of your key players or keep them in the side and zone to prevent drop-off.
What team will Rodgers choose today? Here we go at eleven.
Potential Celtic team versus St Mirren.
Joe Hart will make his final appearance at Celtic Park in goal. He delivered an excellent emotional interview on Friday and is sure to receive a standing ovation at several points today.
With everyone fit and healthy, there’s no reason to change things up in a well-established defense. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales will play in next week’s final, so they’ll build on their partnership today.
Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston remain the top picks on the flanks, though Anthony Ralston may play some minutes in the second half.
Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley, and Reo Hatate have been in excellent form of late, creating and scoring goals. If they’re all in the lineup, it’ll be a good indication of Rodgers’ perspective on the game. If all three start, it will be clear that the manager intends to thrash the Buddies like Kilmarnock midweek.
In attack, Nicolas Kuhn may replace James Forrest in the lineup. As good as Forrest has been of late, it might be too much of an ask for him to play three games in one week and he will benefit from being kept fresh for Hampden.
The ever-energetic Daizen Maeda will keep things intense on the left flank.
Adam Idah was excellent against Killie to push the Bhoys over the title line but Saturday can be a warmup for Kyogo Furuhashi, as the Japanese is almost guaranteed to be a big game performer in the derby.
Your Predicted XI in full is: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, McGregor, O’Riley, Hatate, Kuhn, Maeda, Kyogo.
