{"id":13281,"date":"2025-08-22T21:57:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/08\/22\/ralston-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-livingston\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:57:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:57:46","slug":"ralston-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-livingston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/08\/22\/ralston-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-livingston\/","title":{"rendered":"Ralston To Start | Predicted 4-3-3 Celtic Lineup To Face Livingston"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It was a shocking European night for Celtic<\/a>, who only settled for a scoreless draw against the little-known FC Kairat in the first leg of the Champions League play-off. The midweek visitors will have an edge in Almaty on Tuesday night, and the Hoops must focus on their Saturday afternoon tie against Livingston first before travelling to Kazakhstan next week.<\/p>\n

Despite the setback in Europe, the reigning champions secured back-to-back wins in the Premiership without conceding any. They have dominated this tie over the years, and the Livi boss David Martindale, who led his men towards an immediate promotion, has a colossal job at Parkhead, regardless of a strong start in their battle for survival.<\/p>\n

Defence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kasper Schmeichel is still going strong at the age of 38, as he has kept clean sheets in all three appearances so far this campaign. The veteran Dane should have a quiet outing this weekend before their decisive trip to Almaty en route to claiming a place in the Champions League main draw.<\/p>\n

Brendan Rodgers was forced to take Alistair Johnston off prematurely on Wednesday night.\u00a0 The star right fullback is expected to be sidelined<\/a> for three months with a hamstring injury. But his absence should now hand an opportunity to Anthony Ralston, who must be determined to impress the gaffer.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic
LIVINGSTON, SCOTLAND \u2013 MARCH 31: Liam Scales of Celtic controls the ball during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Livingston FC and Celtic FC at Tony Macaroni Arena on March 31, 2024 in Livingston, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images) (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales must retain their spots as the first-choice central defensive pair ahead of Auston Trusty, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Dane Murray. Trusty could be introduced at some stage in place of Kieran Tierney. The Scotsman is irreplaceable down the left, but his minutes are being managed<\/a> carefully to avoid further fitness woes. Scales should shift to the left, thus allowing the USMNT centre-half to partner with Carter-Vickers, his fellow compatriot, in the heart of the backline.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Midfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rodgers is well-equipped in the centre of the pitch, but has so far relied on summer signing Benjamin Nygren as a right-sided box-to-box option over Arne Engels in the centre of the pitch. However, skipper Callum McGregor from the base, and the energetic Reo Hatate down the left, remain the preferred choices over Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan. The Celtic chief should opt for the latter in place of Hatate to keep him fit and fresh for next week\u2019s European encounter.<\/p>\n

Attack<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The dismal run continues for Adam Idah, who was taken off at half-time against Kairat for his lack of involvement up top. It is high time Rodgers should deploy Daizen Maeda as a centre-forward and utilise the poaching attribute of the Japanese attacker. With Jota ruled out for months, James Forrest and Hyun-Jun Yang must feature from the flanks until the Hoops bolster their attacking third. Besides Idah, Shin Yamada, Johnny Kenny and Callum Osmand are also there to slot in high up the pitch as second-half substitutes.<\/p>\n

\"football<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a shocking European night for Celtic, who only settled for a scoreless draw against the little-known FC Kairat in the first leg of the Champions League play-off. The midweek visitors will have an edge in Almaty on Tuesday night, and the Hoops must focus on their Saturday afternoon tie against Livingston first before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":13282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12953"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}