{"id":5041,"date":"2025-03-14T22:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T22:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/03\/14\/maeda-to-lead-the-line-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-rangers\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T22:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T22:04:16","slug":"maeda-to-lead-the-line-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/03\/14\/maeda-to-lead-the-line-predicted-4-3-3-celtic-lineup-to-face-rangers\/","title":{"rendered":"Maeda To Lead The Line | Predicted 4-3-3 Celtic Lineup To Face Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the Premiership title all but sealed, Celtic<\/a> will host Rangers on Sunday lunchtime in the season\u2019s fourth Old Firm derby. The Hoops have a sixteen-point cushion over their bitter rivals at the top of the league standings. Yet, they would seek revenge at Parkhead, particularly after a 3-0 humiliation on the road in January.<\/p>\n

Rangers<\/a>, on the other hand, must be fatigued after a strenuous Thursday night encounter against Fenerbahce. Despite losing 2-0 at Ibrox, a 3-1 win in Istanbul worked in their favour. The Light Blues edged past the Turkish heavyweights in the tie-breaker to progress to the Europa League quarterfinals, but the prestige battle with the Bhoys must not be understated as they could still stop them from scripting a 100-point season.<\/p>\n

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

Kasper Schmeichel grabbed a clean sheet last weekend in their Scottish Cup quarter-final victory against Hibernian. It was the first time in five games the Celts did not concede, but they remain firm favourites to claim a commanding win having clinched a routine 3-0 triumph in their previous meeting at Celtic Park early into the campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND \u2013 DECEMBER 15: Hamza Igamane of Rangers FC is challenged by Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston of Celtic during the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park on December 15, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hoops have a stable backline with able alternatives in all positions. Alistair Johnston must keep his place on the right ahead of Anthony Ralston. Also, Jeffrey Schlupp should continue as the left fullback after replacing Greg Taylor recently. Brendan Rodgers prefers Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty as the central defensive pairing, and the USMNT duo are expected to feature again ahead of Liam Scales and the forgotten Maik Nawrocki.<\/p>\n

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

Callum McGregor has been the Bhoys\u2019 driving force with his experience and expertise as a deep-lying playmaker. The Scotsman\u2019s technicality, vision and creative spark should see them dominate space and possession from the base of a three-man midfield. His presence as the \u2018number six\u2019 would enable Reo Hatate and Arne Engels to operate in box-to-box roles. Paulo Bernardo is still sidelined with an injury, but they have Luke McCowan in their ranks who has been effective as a \u2018super sub\u2019 since plying his trade from Dundee last summer.<\/p>\n

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

While James Forrest continues to be a long-term absentee with a foot injury, Celtic have ample options who offer depth, quality as well as versatility across the frontline. Daizen Maeda, exquisite as a \u2018number 9\u2019, must spearhead the attack as he has done so far since Kyogo Furuhashi\u2019s winter departure. Nicolas Kuhn and Jota are likely to feature from the flanks, however, Hyun-Jun Yang and Adam Idah could also be involved from the bench as second-half substitutes.<\/p>\n

\"football<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pratyay Maitra\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n

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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Premiership title all but sealed, Celtic will host Rangers on Sunday lunchtime in the season\u2019s fourth Old Firm derby. The Hoops have a sixteen-point cushion over their bitter rivals at the top of the league standings. Yet, they would seek revenge at Parkhead, particularly after a 3-0 humiliation on the road in January. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":5042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5041","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\/5041","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=5041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}