{"id":3823,"date":"2025-02-20T21:09:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T21:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/02\/20\/idah-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-hibernian\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T21:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T21:09:28","slug":"idah-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-hibernian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/02\/20\/idah-to-start-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-hibernian\/","title":{"rendered":"Idah To Start? | Predicted 4-3-3 Celtic Lineup To Face Hibernian"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>A lion-hearted performance at Allianz Arena went in vain when a last-gasp equalizer from Bayern Munich shattered <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/category\/leagues\/scottish-league\/celtic\/\">Celtic<\/a> on Tuesday night. The Hoops\u2019 spirited European run comes to an end, but they remain in the driver\u2019s seat for a \u2018domestic treble\u2019 ahead of locking horns with Hibernian in the Premiership.<\/p>\n<p>The Hibs have been unbeaten since their defeat at Parkhead in early December. The race is open for a third-place finish, but the Saturday early kick-off outing at Easter Road would be the toughest possible test since securing a thrilling 3-3 draw against Rangers in their first home fixture of 2025. Celtic must overcome the midweek disappointment and aim for an emphatic win to maintain their staggering lead at the pinnacle of the league standings.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Defence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Kasper Schmeichel pulled off multiple saves against the Bavarians, but he could not stop Alphonso Davies from finding a scrappy injury-time equalizer. The veteran Dane has only conceded 12 league goals, and therefore, should aim for a clean sheet against the Hibees to ensure a comprehensive victory.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_320219\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-320219\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1.jpg\" alt=\"Celtic defender Alistair Johnston in action against Hibs\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-750x493.jpg 750w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2167285610-2048x2048-1-1140x750.jpg 1140w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-320219\">GLASGOW, SCOTLAND \u2013 AUGUST 18: Alistair Johnston of Celtic vies with Rocky Bushri of Hibernia during the Premier Sports Cup match between Celtic and Hibernian at Celtic Park on August 18, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Bhoys have a stable central defensive option in Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers. The USMNT pair must keep their place in the heart of the backline ahead of Liam Scales, Maik Nawrocki and the young academy prospect Dane Murray. Right fullback Alistair Johnston should keep his place over Anthony Ralston, however, Jeffrey Schlupp, who started against Bayern, could be replaced by Greg Taylor on the left.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Midfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Callum McGregor was mostly confined to marshalling the defence in Munich but is expected to exhibit his attacking traits with down-the-middle movements. Although Arne Engels and Reo Hatate are the preferred \u2018number 8\u2019 options, Luke McCowan could get the nod over the Japanese ace to avoid fatigue and fitness concerns. Paulo Bernardo continues to be sidelined with an injury sustained against Raith Rovers in their Scottish Cup encounter, and the gaffer Brendan Rodgers must manage the minutes carefully due to the lack of depth in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Attack<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Versatile Daizen Maeda was deployed as a \u2018number 9\u2019 against Bayern but could get shifted down the wide following an injury to Nicolas Kuhn sustained soon after finding the net during Tuesday\u2019s clash. Adam Idah should spearhead the attack and the gaffer might rely on Jota on the right over Yang Hyun-Jun. The in-form South Korean wideman is likely to be involved as a second-half substitute.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/this11.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" width=\"336\" height=\"515\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/this11.com\/play\/ab3VfyBaY.png\" alt=\"football formations\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" alt=\"Pratyay Maitra\" src=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/99caba795be581dd389be17783993c42.jpg?ver=1739945983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/42284f8e6bd8d7f416c18e12e1851881.jpg?ver=1739945983 2x\" height=\"80\" width=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3> <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/author\/4thpratyay\/\"> Pratyay Maitra\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n<p> A sports enthusiast who reads, breathes, as well as dreams (mostly) about football and attempts to share his views with the fanatics by jotting down a few words.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lion-hearted performance at Allianz Arena went in vain when a last-gasp equalizer from Bayern Munich shattered Celtic on Tuesday night. The Hoops\u2019 spirited European run comes to an end, but they remain in the driver\u2019s seat for a \u2018domestic treble\u2019 ahead of locking horns with Hibernian in the Premiership. The Hibs have been unbeaten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":3824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3823","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\/3823","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=3823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}