da bet vitoria： Celtic are entering one of their busiest periods of the season after the international break and it all starts with a trip away to New Douglas Park to face Hamilton Academical. Before the end of September, the Hoops will play seven matches in three competitions ranging from the Scottish League Cup to the bright lights of the UEFA Champions League.
da heads bet： Not the best time then for Brendan Rodgers to have more selection headaches. The Celtic boss looks set to be without the services of Leigh Griffiths for the Friday night match, after he suffered a calf strain in Scotland’s win over Malta on Monday night.
It means that Rodgers must either play the likes of James Forrest or Patrick Roberts out of position again, or throw his deadline day signing Odsonne Edouard in at the deep end with his first start just over a week since joining.
The teenager doesn’t have a lot of match experience but for us he’s the correct choice for the Scottish Premiership fixture and here are THREE reasons why…
He was bought for this exact situation
It didn’t look certain in the summer transfer window that the Hoops would end up bringing in a third striker. It’s a difficult balance to sign a player both good enough to fit into the first team and also be happy as the third man behind two established fan favourites up front.
The signing of Odsonne Edouard though was to give the Hoops an option in matches like this, where there’s an important European match on the horizon with both Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele struggling for fitness.
It may seem very quick to be throwing a teenager into the starting eleven, but given this is the exact situation that determined his arrival, it’s as good a time as any.
Edouard is young, hungry and will be motivated for all of the limited minutes he may get on the pitch this season and that’s exactly what Rodgers needs to call upon, even if he may have wanted more time to work with the 19-year-old.
Hamilton will be a good test of his current ability
While it’s a big ask to come in and perform immediately for his new team, it’s not as if Hamilton Accies are amongst the strongest teams in Scotland and Friday night could be the perfect way to bed him into the new set-up.
Although Martin Canning’s side have started the season well, just three points behind Celtic in fourth, they’ve conceded 10 goals in all competitions already and Odsonne Edouard going up against their defence will be a good test of whether he is cut out for first team football already, or whether he needs more development time on the training pitch.
It would be a much more difficult task for him to face Aberdeen or Rangers in his first match, but a Friday night fixture away to Hamilton provides an opportunity to make a name for himself and show what he can do in Celtic colours.
Playing wingers through the middle hasn’t really worked
The only other option Brendan Rodgers has if he doesn’t throw Odsonne Edouard into action is playing one of his wingers out of position through the middle. Scott Sinclair, James Forrest and Patrick Roberts have all played in the position since Brendan Rodgers has arrived at the club but none of them have looked particularly convincing.
Roberts was perhaps the most comfortable with it last season but Friday is a chance for him to re-introduce himself to the Celtic support from the right-hand side, in his natural and best position.
Scott Sinclair is at his best on the left drifting in and James Forrest will surely not offer as much natural movement or finishing ability as the young Frenchman.
Natural is the way to go and if Rodgers picks Edouard, it allows Celtic’s creative players around him to reach their peak potential.