Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava: McAvennie predicts starting XI, Taylor axe claim
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers could be set to rotate the starting eleven for the club’s Champions League opener on Wednesday (September 18).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, ex-Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has backed Rodgers, 51, to give a debut to 20-year-old Barcelona loanee Alex Valle and rest Greg Taylor, 26, after a hectic start to the season.
The Glasgow club kick off their Champions League campaign against Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park as the only Scottish team in the tournament.
The competition’s new ‘Swiss model’ format has placed all teams in one big league, with Celtic set to face German giants Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig as well as a trip south of the border to Aston Villa.
Celtic backed to rotate and rest left-back Greg Taylor
Taylor has played 525 minutes of competitive football for Celtic so far this season with his only time on the bench coming when he was substituted off after 75 minutes against St Mirren.
Valle joined the club on loan from Barcelona near the end of the summer transfer window but is yet to play a single minute for his new club.
“I don’t know if he’s going to put Engels in at the start”, McAvennie told Football Insider.
“He did enough at the weekend to earn a starting position but then I think, Bernardo was man of the match against Rangers.
“Any three of the four midfielders for me is good, and you’ll get Maeda and I think he’ll put Kuhn in, that will be the five in midfield with Kyogo up front.
“Adam Idah could then come on and get some more game time, I got a wee bit of stick, I wasn’t having a go at Idah, he just needs game time.
“He looked fit but he didn’t look up to the standard of the rest of them, as in the level of performance, where they were.
“I’m sure he will get a lot of games but not tomorrow night, I think Kyogo but if he’s not fit I’ve got no problem with Idah coming in.
“Now at the back, I don’t know who he’s going to play, I don’t get the Barcelona boy, unless he’s not fit for Scottish football.
“Him and Trust might be having to work harder to get up to scratch because in Scotland, they don’t mess about, they still tackle up here.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone fit and I want to see Trusty playing, I want to look forward to him and Carter-Vickers playing, I want to see them two playing together.”
In other news, Celtic fans rage at Kyogo after what he did in 2-0 win vs Hearts.
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