{"id":26589,"date":"2026-04-16T20:26:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2026\/04\/16\/iheanacho-should-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-celtic-lineup-to-face-st-mirren\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T20:26:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:26:54","slug":"iheanacho-should-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-celtic-lineup-to-face-st-mirren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2026\/04\/16\/iheanacho-should-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-celtic-lineup-to-face-st-mirren\/","title":{"rendered":"Iheanacho Should Start | Predicted 4-2-3-1 Celtic Lineup To Face St Mirren"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Despite an underwhelming season, a strong end could see Celtic<\/a> clinch a \u2018domestic double\u2019. They defeated Rangers to make it to the Scottish Cup semifinal, and a win against St Mirren on Sunday afternoon would take them a step closer to the silverware.<\/p>\n

The Buddies, struggling for survival in the Premiership, lost 1-0 at Parkhead last weekend. But they conquered the League Cup, defeating the Hoops at Hampden Park in December. Celtic have since revived their campaign following Martin O\u2019Neill\u2019s reappointment as the interim boss upon Wilfried Nancy\u2019s dismissal. A revenge in the Cup is on the cards; however, the lack of consistency and firepower could cause another upset, unless the Celts step up their game in Mount Florida.<\/p>\n

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

Despite an edgy win, St Mirren failed to threaten Viljami Sinisalo enough in the Celtic goal. The Finnish custodian has been a regular between the sticks since Kasper Schmeichel\u2019s shoulder injury, and it remains to be seen whether St Mirren keep him busy, unlike the league outing.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND \u2013 APRIL 11: Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic battles with Declan John of St Mirren during the William Hill Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by WM Sport Media\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Injuries to Colby Donovan, Alistair Johnston and Julian Araujo leave the Bhoys with Anthony Ralston as the only available right fullback. The Scotsman is expected to keep his place, and so is Kieran Tierney, who has been the preferred choice down the left ahead of Marcelo Saracchi. Benjamin Arthur has lately enjoyed an impressive streak, but a clean sheet at Celtic Park should allow Auston Trusty and Liam Scales to retain their starting status in the heart of the backline.<\/p>\n

Midfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain\u2019s early strike proved decisive in the final gameweek of the Scottish Premiership regular season. Although Arne Engels is back from a long injury layoff, the veteran Englishman must start, allowing the Belgian to regain match fitness. Despite a minor knock, skipper Callum McGregor would partner with \u2018The Ox\u2019 and form a \u2018double pivot\u2019 deep down the midfield. Besides Engels, Reo Hatate and Luke McCowan might also be involved as second-half substitutes.<\/p>\n

The creative spark and poaching traits of Benjamin Nygren make him an assured starter as an advanced playmaker. The \u2018number 10\u2032 role suits his style of play, and Hyun-Jun Yang, being the Hoops\u2019 most productive attacker, must feature again from the right-hand flank. Daizen Maeda has been dreadful all season, yet a player of his profile might not be dropped in such a high-profile fixture. He is likely to operate from the left ahead of Sebastian Tounekti and James Forrest.<\/p>\n

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

O\u2019Neill must make one change and restore Kelechi Iheanacho up top in place of Tomas Cvancara. Neither of them has done enough to earn a contract beyond this season, but the Nigerian offers more finesse and sharpness if he is fit enough to start the weekend encounter.<\/p>\n

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

Despite an underwhelming season, a strong end could see Celtic clinch a \u2018domestic double\u2019. They defeated Rangers to make it to the Scottish Cup semifinal, and a win against St Mirren on Sunday afternoon would take them a step closer to the silverware. The Buddies, struggling for survival in the Premiership, lost 1-0 at Parkhead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":26590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26589","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\/26589","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=26589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}