Celtic will try to keep up their impressive winning run in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday when they face Ross County at Celtic Park.
Goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda secured a 2-1 win for Celtic against Motherwell in the Hoops' last outing, maintaining their seven-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. A win on Saturday for Ange Postecoglou's side would extend the Hoops' winning streak in the league to eight games, with Celtic having only dropped points on one occasion all season.
Celtic have won their last six games against Ross County in all competitions, with their last meeting ending in a 3-1 victory for the Hoops back in August. Callum McGregor and James McCarthy are out for the clash at Celtic Park.
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So, what will be the starting XI for Celtic on Saturday? And, what will the final score be? We simulated the game to try and find out. To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the Celtic squad with the latest injuries and suspensions.
Celtic vs Ross County simulated
We predict that Celtic could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; Hatate, O’Riley, Haksabanovic; Maeda, Giakoumakis, Jota.
We predict that the visitors could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Laidlaw; Johnson, Watson, Iacovitti, Harmon; Cancola, Tillson, Loturi; Edwards, White, Dhanda.
The opening stages were very evenly matched, with both sides very solid defensively and limiting the number of chances at either end. As the half came towards its close, Celtic started to grow, and they took the lead in the 41st minute through Georgios Giakoumakis.
The Hoops had struggled to get into the visitor's box all afternoon, so Giakoumakis took it into his own hands as he tried his luck from range. When the striker received the ball just outside the box, he lined up a strike after one touch out of his feet, and his powerful effort curled away from the 'keeper and into the corner of the net.
It was the quality of Celtic's attackers that separated the two sides at the break, and the second half continued in the same manner, with Ross County frustrating the Hoops as they remained resilient at the back. A moment of magic from Jota helped Celtic double their lead on the hour mark.
A lovely piece of skill saw the forward twist his marker inside out before pulling the ball back to Giakoumakis inside the box. The Greek striker's original shot hit the defender and fell back to his feet, allowing him to fire into the net on the second attempt.
Now in a comfortable lead, Celtic were happy to control possession and see out the three points.
FIFA 23 predicted score: Celtic 2-0 Ross County
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that goals in either half from Giakoumakis could hand the Hoops an eighth consecutive league win on Saturday afternoon. Ross County limited Celtic to just a few chances in the simulation, potentially showing how clinical Postecoglou 's side may need to be in the real game.
What do you think the score will be between Celtic and Ross County on Saturday? Let us know in the comments!
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