Predicted XI with Nawrocki and Palma starting

Celtic face Aberdeen in this afternoon’s Scottish Cup Semi Final. Brendan Rodgers is unbeaten in the competition across both spells and will want Rodney up a final against either Hearts or Rangers.

Last weekend in the Premiership, Celtic beat St Mirren 3-0 but with no Liam Scales and both Callum McGregor and Luis Palma on the bench. With another week of training under their belts, the manager needs to decide on his starting XI for this meeting.

In goals, Joe Hart will start. The Englishman has been a Player of the Year contender given his performances since the turn of the year. He will be hoping to leave the game on a high.

Cameron Carter-Vickers will start at the back alongside either Maik Nawrocki or Liam Scales. The Polish defender moves the ball quickly and appears to have a bit more pace than his defensive colleague Scales. Nawrocki will be hoping to get the nod but Scales has the residency at the back. Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston will start in the fullback berths.

Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley will start in the middle of the park. The manager needs to decide whether to start Tomoki Iwata or captain Callum McGregor. Given that Brendan is managing the skipper’s return, it could be the defensive midfielder that gets the nod.

In attack, Kyogo will start with Luis Palma coming into the side on the left with Nicolas Kuhn on the right.