Rodgers must unleash Celtic’s “big-game player”

Celtic are preparing to face Slovakian outfit SK Slovan in their first Champions League game of the 2024/25 campaign at Parkhead this evening.

The Hoops finished bottom of their group in the competition last season, winning one of their six matches, and are now set to partake in the new version of the group phase.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side will play eight matches in an attempt to qualify for the knockout stages and their first opponents are Slovan at Paradise tonight.

The Scottish Premiership champions come into this match off the back of a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hearts at Parkhead in the league on Saturday.

Arne Engels and Luke McCowan scored the goals for Celtic to ensure that their perfect start to the season continued, with the Hoops having won all five of their league matches without conceding a goal so far.

They will now be hoping to start their Champions League campaign in a similar fashion, with a win this evening, and Engels could be key to their hopes of securing all three points against the Slovakian side, with his quality in midfield.

Why Arne Engels could be key for Celtic

The Hoops smashed their record transfer fee to bring the 21-year-old central midfielder to Glasgow on deadline day, agreeing a reported fee of £11m with Bundesliga outfit Augsburg.

Their willingness to spend such a significant amount of money on the young gem suggests that they have high hopes for what he can achieve at Parkhead.

Engels has already shown glimpses of the quality that he could provide in midfield for Celtic, after Rodgers handed him a full debut against Hearts on Saturday, alongside Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor in the middle of the park.

As you can see in the table above, the Belgium international put in an excellent all-round display for the Hoops, as he showed off his skills in and out of possession.

Engels, who scored from the spot against Hearts, has the potential to provide more of a creative threat from a central midfield role, based on his previous form for Augsburg in Germany.

In the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign, the young whiz ranked within the top 19% of his positional peers in the division for assists (0.19) per 90 and the top 26% for Expected Assisted Goals (0.14) per 90.

This shows that the Belgian starlet, who also ranked within the top 26% for shot-creating actions (2.94) per 90, was one of the most creative players in his position in the Bundesliga.

Therefore, the potential is there for Engels to be an excellent creator for Celtic in midfield and that means that he could be a dream for the starting striker.

The centre-forward Rodgers selects to play ahead of the former Augsburg star tonight should be different to the one he picked to play against Hearts, after Kyogo Furuhashi struggled on Saturday.

Kyogo Furuhashi’s performance against Hearts in numbers

The Japan international endured a frustrating afternoon against the Jam Tarts at Parkhead in his 72 minutes on the pitch before being substituted for Adam Idah.

Kyogo has scored one goal and missed a whopping seven ‘big chances’ in his five appearances in the Premiership so far this season, with this clash with Steven Naismith’s side being the latest in a line of disappointing showings.

The 29-year-old forward missed one ‘big chance’ in the win over Hearts, firing a shot wide of the post after being one-on-one with Craig Gordon, and the rest of his performance left a lot to be desired.

As you can see in the table above, Kyogo had more shots than passes completed, with zero goals to show for it, and did not create any chances for his teammates.

The Japanese striker also lost all three of his physical duels during the game, as the Hearts defenders found it too easy to get the better of him.

With this in mind, Rodgers must ditch Kyogo from the starting XI and finally unleash Adam Idah in his place as the starting centre-forward for Engels to provide chances for.

Why Adam Idah should start

The Northern Irish head coach described the 6 foot 3 marksman as a “big-game player” last season and that was backed up by the attacker’s performances on the pitch.

Idah popped up with two goals in three games against Rangers during his loan spell at Parkhead during the 2023/24 campaign, which included a winning strike against the Gers in the SFA Cup final at Hampden Park.

The former Norwich City gem showcased his quality and mentality to score a last-minute winner in the final back in May, reacting quickly to Jack Butland’s parry to slot the ball into the back of the net.

As you can see in the table above, Idah was a clinical operator in the final third for the Hoops during his loan spell last term, scoring eight goals and missing seven ‘big chances’ in 15 outings.

Kyogo has missed seven ‘big chances’ already this season and has only plundered one goal in the Premiership, which illustrates how impressive the Irishman’s return was last term.

His ability in front of goal and his mentality to pop up in big moments in big games for Celtic is why Rodgers must unleash him from the start for this huge clash with Slovan, in the opening game of the Champions League campaign.

Idah appears to be the best and most clinical option for the head coach in the centre-forward position and should be selected to play, with Engels hopefully providing enough creativity from midfield to ensure that the attacker has chances to find the back of the net this evening.