Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side head into today’s Premiership clash on the back of an extremely disappointing showing against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, with the 56-year-old’s side falling to a 5-1 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows.
As such, the Greek-Australian coach will undoubtedly be hoping for a much better display when his side make the trip to Hibernian on Sunday afternoon, especially considering the Hoops can extend their lead at the top of the Premiership table to six points – with second-placed Rangers playing Motherwell later in the day.
However, while the vast majority of Celtic’s players endured something of a game to forget on Thursday night, there was one bright spark in Norway – Liel Abada.
Postecoglou must unleash Abada
Indeed, over his 45 minutes on the pitch at the Aspmyra Stadion, the right-winger was the one player who looked as if he could have made something happen for Celtic, with the £4.05m-rated forward taking four shots at the Bodo/Glimt goal, completing one dribble and attempting four crosses and one long ball.
The £15k-per-week 20-year-old impressed when doing the dirty work for his side, making one interception, winning two of his three duels and drawing one foul – as well as having a big penalty claim turned down by the referee.
These returns saw the Israel international earn a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.1 – ranking him as Celtic’s second-best player on the night – while the Daily Record’s Michael Gannon also awarded the winger a six in his own player ratings, stating of Abada’s display: “Lively with a couple of efforts and involved in a big shout for a penalty.”
As such, while the likes of Reo Hatate and Jota are also in with a shout of returning to the starting XI at Easter Road, it would appear a must for Postecoglou to unleash the player who Yossi Benayoun dubbed a “star” and James Dornan claimed reminded him of Bobby Lennox today, as the youngster would undoubtedly terrify the Hibs defenders.
In other news: Ange must axe £15k-p/w Celtic “joke” who plays like he’s in a “Sports Relief match”
