Celtic’s recent form suggests that there are players in the side who are simply going through the motions at the club.
To address that, Brendan Rodgers wielded the axe midweek for the trip to Easter Road and dropped the likes of Luis Palma and Kyogo Furuhashi in a bid to spark some life into his team.
However, it didn’t have the desired effect and whilst Celtic still picked up the win, the performance levels remained the same.
Celtic lack a cutting edge and creativity and that is why Rodgers needs to make two changes in order to change that this afternoon against St Mirren.
So with that in mind, here is my Celtic predicted XI to face St Mirren.
Luis Palma starts as Daizen Maeda drops out for Celtic vs St Mirren
The Honduran had an ‘outstanding‘ start to his Celtic career. Goals and assists in the Champions League propelled the £6k per week player into almost instant hero status amongst the Celtic fans.
However, of late, Palma has struggled to find that same kind of form. He was dropped in favour of Daizen Maeda on Wednesday and whilst the Japanese wingers’ return from international duty was highly anticipated, he failed to make any real impact in the 2-1 win over Hibs.
Hopefully, dropping out of the Celtic side midweek has given Palma a shot in the arm and he can get back to his best for the Hoops.
Kuhn keeps his place, for now. The German is still finding his feet and I think Rodgers will give him 90 minutes against The Buddies to build on what he showed he can do after impressing against Aberdeen.
Anthony Ralston and Maik Nawrocki start for Celtic vs St Mirren
Ralston has proven on many occasions that, when called upon, he will not let the Celtic manager down.
Brendan Rodgers was forced to bring on Ralston at Easter Road for the injured Alistair Johnston and the 25-year-old fullback was excellent.
With a 100% passing accuracy, Ralston was his usual calm and composed self on the ball. Winning over 60% of his tackles, the Scotland fullback also made four clearances, four interceptions, 13 defensive actions and won six duels.
Maik Nawrocki will start with Liam Scales this afternoon. This season, the Pole has played seldom and has fallen behind Stephen Welsh in the pecking order.
With Welsh’s injury, Nawrocki will have another opportunity to impress Rodgers and advance his Celtic career.
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