Celtic F.C. supporters believe Benjamin Arthur and Luke McCowan should both start when the Hoops travel to face Rangers F.C. at Ibrox Stadium this weekend.
This is the most significant Glasgow derby of the campaign as both the Hoops and Rangers battle to remain within touching distance of league leaders Heart of Midlothian F.C..
Three points would be the ideal birthday gift for Martin O’Neill and the side he selects for the clash will play a major part in that.
Why Luke McCowan has to play for Celtic against Rangers
TalkingPoints users selected Viljami Sinisalo as their man of the match, but McCowan also deserved recognition.
McCowan joined an illustrious list of Scotsmen by scoring within 30 seconds of the win against VfB Stuttgart on Thursday.
It was an opportunity for him to operate in his natural role and he embraced it fully, dictating the tempo and making runs from a deeper position into the box. Energy like that has been lacking in the middle of the park and needs to be brought back.
As for the defence, despite Dane Murray’s strong performance alongside Liam Scales, having a quicker, more powerful centre-back in Benjamin Arthur will help counter the threat from forward Youssef Chermiti, who scored twice in the previous meeting.
67 Hail Hail’s predicted Celtic XI to face Rangers
Sinisalo keeps his spot in goal after impressing during the midweek match, leaving Kasper Schmeichel to take a place on the bench.
If fit, Julián Araujo starts at right-back but Colby Donovan is more than capable of stepping in if needed.
Arthur and Scales form the centre-back partnership and Kieran Tierney returns to start at left-back.
Callum McGregor, McCowan and top scorer Benjamin Nygren make up the midfield trio in the centre of the park and will need to be at their very best.
Sebastian Tounekti starts on the left, replacing Daizen Maeda after another quiet performance, allowing Hyunjun Yang to keep his place on the right.
Junior Adamu linked up well with McCowan in Germany and should retain his place too.