Can Celtic get back to winning ways?
Last Sunday, the Hoops were beaten by the side bottom of the Scottish Premiership for the first time since November 2005, shockingly defeated 1-0 by struggling St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Considering Rangers also lost a day earlier, Hibs claiming a 2-0 win at Ibrox, it mattered very little, and Celtic could be crowned champions as soon as this weekend.
If Brendan Rodgers’ team beat Kilmarnock on Saturday, and then their fierce rivals are defeated at Pittodrie a day later, a record-equalling 55th top division title will be rubber-stamped.
As the Hoops target victory over Derek McInnes’ Killie, Rodgers must drop his club-record signing and unleash a fit again star instead.
Arne Engels mixed first season at Celtic
Last summer, after selling Matt O’Riley to Brighton for a reported £25m fee, Celtic broke their club record to replace him, with Arne Engels arriving on deadline day from Augsburg at the cost of £11m.
Upon his arrival, Rodgers labeled the Belgian a “young player of real quality”, while Graeme McGarry of the Herland claims the 21-year-old has ‘huge potential’.
To date, Engels has scored ten goals and registered 12 assists across all competitions, with 32 of his 45 appearances coming from the start, underlining that he has been a mainstay.
However, in more recent times, Joe Donnelly of the Glasgow Times notes that Engels has regularly ‘failed to make a significant impact’ in many Celtic matches, scoring only once in his last 12 appearances, hooked after 66 minutes in Perth last Sunday.
Thus, Rodgers must, now, ruthlessly ditch the Belgium international from the starting line-up due to his recent lack of impact at the top end of the pitch, and his dull display last time out.
The Celtic star who should replace Arne Engels
Back in February, Paulo Bernardo suffered an ankle injury during a Scottish Cup tie against Raith Rovers that saw him sidelined for five weeks, heartbreakingly missing out on the two-legged Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.
Since then, the Portuguese U21 international has seen just 28 minutes of action, coming off the bench during the 3-0 rout of Hearts a fortnight ago, before remaining an unused substitute against St Johnstone last time out.
Bernardo himself said “I can play football again, so I’m really excited”, describing the injury he suffered as “bad” but stating he will do his best and give his all during the remainder of the campaign.
Bernardo initially joined Celtic on loan from Benfica, before making the move permanent for a reported £3.5m fee last summer.
So far, he’s scored just seven goals and registered only seven assists in 70 outings in hoops, but let’s take a deeper dive into his statistics when compared to Engels.
Appearances
37
45
Minutes
1,544
2,800
Goals
3
10
Assists
4
12
Chances created
30
64
Big chances created
5
14
Passing accuracy %
87.95%
84.64%
Through-balls
2
12
Ball recoveries
74
109
Touches per 90
79
72
The table shows that, throughout the season, Engels’ statistics are better, albeit he has played around 1,300 minutes more across all competitions, which certainly skews the data.
Bernardo meantime, boasts a higher pass completion percentage, more ball recoveries per 90 minutes, and registers marginally more touches per game.
Thus, the Portuguese midfielder definitely deserves a shot against Kilmarnock, building up his match-sharpness ahead of a Scottish Cup semi-final against the side who have just beaten Celtic, namely St Johnstone, at Hampden on Easter Sunday.
Rarely-seen Celtic flop is fast becoming their new James McCarthy
The rarely-seen Celtic flop could end up becoming the new James McCarthy at Parkhead.
ByDan Emery