BRENDAN RODGERS has given the nod to Nat Phillips to start in central defence as the Celtic boss takes no risks with Cameron Carter-Vickers on Kilmarnock’s plastic pitch at Rugby Park in today’s noon showdown.
Mikey Johnston gets another opportunity to impress the Hoops gaffer with evergreen James Forrest on the substitutes’ bench.
South Korean hitman Oh Hyeon-gyu, who claimed a double in the 4-1 midweek win over Hibs, again leads the line with Kyogo Furuhashi among the stand-by squad.
TEAM: Hart; A Johnston, Phillips, Scales, Taylor; Iwata, McGregor, O’Riley; M Johnston, Oh, Palma. Subs: Bain, Ralston, Bernabei, Turnbull, Bernardo, Kyogo, Yang, Forrest and Nawrocki.
Earlier today, we asked how much you remember about past encounters with Killie in CQN’s fun five-minute quiz.
Now we repeat those questions and provide the answers.
HIT…Kyogo Furuhashi takes to the air after netting the opener in Celtic’s 4-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in April last season. Sead Haksabanovic is about to add his congratulations.
MISS…Kyogo Furuhashi fires in his penalty-kick that smashed against the post. (See Question 5.)
QUESTIONS:
1: Celtic knocked the Ayrshire outfit out of the Viaplay League Cup semi-final following a 2-0 win at Hampden last season. Daizen Maeda opened the scoring, but who scored the second killer goal? Clue: It was his last strike for the Hoops.
2: Which former Kilmarnock player scored for the Hoops against his old club at Parkhead earlier this season?
3: True or false: Luis Palma scored his first Celtic goal in the 3-1 win over Derek McInnes’ side in October?
4: Who scored the Hoops’ opener in the same game?
5: Which Celtic player missed a penalty-kick in the team’s 4-1 victory at Rugby Park in April last season?
ANSWERS:
1: Giorgos Giakoumakis.
2: Greg Taylor.
3: False. Palma scored his first Celtic goal in the 2-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park on September 30, a week before his strike against the Ayrshire club.
4: Reo Hatate.
5: Kyogo Furuhashi, who opened the scoring before hitting the post with his spot-kick. Matt O’Riley (2) and Daizen Maeda were the other scorers in the 4-1 victory..
Well done if you got five out of five. Go to the top of the class!
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report and best action images from Kilmarnock v Celtic this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
