Although Celtic have already qualified for the next round of the Europa League, it’s still vitally important to finish top of the group.
They could secure that top spot with a win tonight and if Lazio take something from Cluj. It seems that Neil Lennon is confident that Rennes wont put up much of a fight judging by his starting line up.
The French side are already out of the competition and have nothing but pride to play for here. They also have suspensions to Eduardo Camavinga and Mbaye Niang to deal with, so it’s hard to see them taking anything from this game.
READ MORE: Opinion: The Europa seeding rules and why winning the group is vital for Celtic
Despite that, you would still expect Neil Lennon to name his strongest side to secure qualification for the next round. A bad result here could see Celtic needing to win against Cluj in Romania, and we’ve already seen that can be a struggle.
The biggest surprise is the absence of Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths. It looks like Ryan Christie will play through the middle instead, and these fans don’t seem to be impressed:
Announce different lineup
— Dan 🍀 (@_DD67) November 28, 2019
Hahaha. Now announce the real team.
— . (@BC67__) November 28, 2019
Announce proper line up
— Ross Bolingoli (@RossLundy17) November 28, 2019
Imagine playing Morgan over Sinclair or even Griffiths. Fs man.
— Insert Name (@WheresJoonti) November 28, 2019
We should be playing our strongest team, finishing top of the group is vital if we want to give Europe a go. Here’s hoping we win though.
— Adri (@adriceltic17) November 28, 2019
How does Morgan start over Griffiths especially with edouard out
— sean (@huntsey1967) November 28, 2019
The inclusion of Lewis Morgan is also an interesting one. He hasn’t played a lot this season and it looks like he’s now above Scott Sinclair in the pecking order. You have to wonder if Sinclair will be leaving in January after this.
It’s a brave selection from Lenny, if they don’t get a result then he will have a lot of questions to answer.
