Who will start for Celtic against PSG in the Champions League?

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. Picture: PA

Scott Brown: Beating PSG would be better than Scotland's win in Paris

Usually in these articles we break it down by area of the field (defence, midfield etc) but in this instance we’ll just give you our expected team in full...

GK - Craig Gordon

RB - Mikael Lustig

CB - Nir Bitton

CB - Dedryck Boyata

LB - Kieran Tierney

DM - Scott Brown

MR - James Forrest

MC - Callum McGregor

MC - Stuart Armstrong

ML - Scott Sinclair

FC - Moussa Dembele

That’s right, it’s the exact same team as the 1-0 win over Ross County.

Brendan Rodgers typically prefers to change his team from one game to the next, especially when that includes a domestic match followed by a European one. And with the Betfred Cup final this coming Sunday against Motherwell, he may have been tempted to throw in a couple of squad rotation players for the trip to Dingwall before reverting to a stronger XI against PSG. But he didn’t do that.

With the exception of Jozo Simunovic, who was an unused sub on Saturday and isn’t yet sharp enough to be thrown in against the might of the French side, that’s the strongest team available to Rodgers at the moment. There are debates to be had over Leigh Griffiths and Dembele, and Olivier Ntcham or Tom Rogic against McGregor or Armstrong, but over the past month or so that’s the in-form XI.

The reason Rodgers probably went with such a strong team against County, when usually he would have thrown in the likes of Jonny Hayes or Eboue Koussai to rest some legs, is that Celtic were coming off an international week. The team hadn’t played together in a fortnight. Waiting another four days may have negatively affected his side’s rhythm, and against PSG they’ll need any advantage they can get.

If he’s tempted to change, Rodgers’ biggest decisions will come up front and in the centre of the park, but the quality of opponent would probably dissuade him from doing so. McGregor may not have the poise of Ntcham or match up to Rogic as an attacking force, but he’s a tactically disciplined worker who’ll run himself into the ground.

In attack, Griffiths may feel he’s played himself into contention with the winner against County, but Celtic won’t see much of the ball in Paris. Defending for long stretches, they’ll need the player most capable of holding up play, and that’s Dembele.