Monday Night Football in Paradise

Monday Night Football in Paradise
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Kyogo Furuhashi's second half brace secured the League Cup Final victory over Hibs


Monday, 17 January 2022
19.45 GMT
Celtic Park, Glasgow​

Celtic return to action on Monday evening, with the visit of Hibernian to Parkhead. And a win tomorrow would narrow the gap at the top of the League to just three points.​

The Bhoys will be welcomed back and roared on by a packed Celtic Park, as fans will once again be allowed into the stadium to catch the Hoops in action on a rare Monday night outing.​

This will be the first action in the Scottish top flight in three weeks, after the Winter Break was brought forward to be in line with the measure that the Scottish Government had decreed, which otherwise would've effected fans from being able to attend games live. The Hoops will be looking to pick up where they left off, which resulted in a victory over St Johnstone on Boxing Day.. ​

And while the Break has afforded all of the teams a chance to recover and recharge their batteries, so to speak, it has also enabled Celtic to act swiftly and decisively in the transfer window, as Ange Postecoglou took full advantage, by swooping in early and securing a trio of talents that he was well acquainted with from his time operating in the J-League. ​

Unlike so many previous transfer windows, it's clear that the Australian manager had a clear strategy coming into the January window, with his plans in place. ​

To this end, no time was wasted in securing the signings of Yosuke Ideguchi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate to bolster the Bhoys squad and provide plenty of time to bed the newcomers for the challenges that lay ahead, considering that the Hoops are still very much in contention in the race for the League, UEFA Conference & Scottish Cup honours. ​

After the example and impact that Kyogo Furuhashi has had over the past few months, hopes are high among the faithful that these new signings will likewise be able to make a quick adaptation to life at Celtic, as well as already being familiar with the expectations of Angeball, and to ensure that the Hoops will be in the best possible position to hit the ground running - beginning with the visit by Hibs on Monday.

Nothing, can be taken for granted, however, and Celtic must play well if they are to not only pick up the three points on offer, but to lay down a marker of intent for the second half of the season as the race for the League title heats up over the coming months.


New Bhoys: Yosuke Ideguchi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate

Meanwhile, the Easter Road outfit will be attempting to spoil the party if they manage to win at Parkhead for the first time since 2010, have also made a series of significant signings of their own - none more imprtant than securing the services of former Celt, Shaun Maloney, as their new manager.​

Maloney played more than 150 times over two spells for the Hoops and was also the last of the Martin O'Neill side that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final to hang up his boots, in 2017. ​

Upon his retirement, the former Scotland International once again returned to Celtic in a coaching capacity with the U/20's, before taking up the role as Roberto Martinez' Assistant, for the Belgian NT. ​

The last time these sides met was in the League Cup Final last month, where the Hoops came out on top 2-1, with a scintillating brace by Kyogo proving the difference for the Bhoys on the day. However, since then the Hibees have won both of their first two games with Maloney now at the helm.​

And Maloney has also been active in the transfer market, drafting in a number of promising talents to Easter Road, including Norwich defender, Rocky Bushiri, who the new Hibees' boss would have been tracking through his previous role with the Belgium set up. ​

Unfortunately, a number of other signings will not be available for tomorrow's match, including winger Chris Mueller, signed from MLS side, Orlando, 19yr old Norwegian striker, Elias Hoff Melkersen, who is waiting on work permit clearance and despite agreeing a pre-contract deal for the permanant switch of Ewan Henderson from Celtic in the summer, the midfielder will also not be permitted to play against his current parent club. ​

A Strong Start

One point that Celtic will want to take advantage of is getting off to a strong start in the game tomorrow night. ​

The Edinburgh outfit having managed to score just 4 goals this season in the first 1/2 hour of league matches, while conceding 8 during that same time period. ​

By contrast, one of the strength's of Postecoglou's side in the Premiership has been the ability to get off to a strong start in the same first 30 minutes of play - with 18 goals to the good while just 4 have been conceded.


Jota could be set to feature on Monday, after recovering from a hamstring strain

Team News​

While Postecoglou has been working behind the scenes, he has also revealed that Portuguese winger, Jota, has returned to full training and that he is close to being fully ready to play once again, and is expected to feature this week, either in tomorrow's match or at the weekend in the Cup match against Alloa Athletic. ​

Elsewhere reports are that Christopher Julien is also very near a return to action, which will be great news, as he has been out of action with knee troubles for over a year now and will bolster options at the back, in addition to the big Frenchman's threat at set pieces, where he averages roughly a goal every six games for Celtic. ​

Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis could also be set for a return also, while Postecoglou cconfirmed that David Turnbull's return will be within 'a matter of weeks', which could signal he may be fit in time before the Glasgow derby match at the beginning of next month. ​

As for the Edinburgh outfit, there are some questions over the make up of the visitors side, with defensive duo Ryan Porteous and Paul McGinn both sidelined through suspension for Monday's match, and one of the players who looked set to debut, on loan Arsenal defender Harry Clarke ruled out after picking up a hamstring strain in training this week. ​

~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 314 W: 180 D: 80 L: 54

Home v HIB
P: 157 W: 103 D: 36 L: 18​

Last 5 Meetings
W W D D D

Home v HIB
D W W W W

~~~~ 2021/22 Form ~~~~ ​

Overall
W D W W W ~ W W L W D

SPFL
W D W W W ~ W W W D L

CEL Home ~ HIB Away
W W W W W ~ W D L W L​