Celtic must offload a “fantastic young player” who could be Coon 2.0

On Sunday, the first silverware of the season is up for grabs in Scotland, as fierce rivals Celtic and Rangers they meet at the National Stadium in the final of the League Cup.

Brendan Rogers there is he never lost any of his 13 matches at Hampden as a manager, he has won a trio of League Cups so far, while he has the best winning percentage of any manager in the history of the old company (79%), winning 15 of their 19 face the Rangers, losing only once.

The Hoops have won the last two League Cup finals between Glasgow’s big two, most recently winning 2-1 in February 2023 thanks to a brace from Kyoga Furuhashi.

Right now, incredibly, Celtic and Rangers both have 118 major honors to their namemeaning a victory for the Bhoys on Sunday would see them boast more trophies than their bitter rivals for the first time since 1938.

Ahead of this massive clash, we reflect on the key selection decision Rodgers must make.

Home dominance of Celtic

Celtic reached their seventh League Cup final in just nine seasons, winning both Hibs and Falkirk at Parkhead in the early rounds, although the reigning Championship leaders gave them a bit of a scare in September, leading 2-1 with just 20 minutes to play, although late braces from Adam Ayde and then Nicolas Kuhn secured victory.

However, there are no such problems in the semi-finals; facing an Aberdeen side still undefeated under Jimmy Tellino at the time, the Celts overcame the Dons, cruising to a 6-0 victory, 3-0 up at half-time and five up by the hour mark, with Daizen Maeda scoring only the second hat-trick of his career in green and white.

Meanwhile, in Premiershipthe champions collected 43 out of a possible 45, leaving them nine points clear at the top and 11 clear of Rangers, seemingly set for a 13th title in just 14 seasons.

Meanwhile, they also go well in Champions Leaguewith a goalless draw on Tuesday against Dinamo Zagreb leaving the Hoops 21st in the giant table, knowing it’s a win when BSC Young Boys have already been eliminated away to Glasgow next month will secure a place in the knockout stages.

Before then, attention turns back to domestic matters, with Celtic looking to lift a 20th trophy out of the last 25 available, having last won the Scottish Cup in May, defeating their cross-town neighbors in rather dramatic circumstances, to say the least.

So, as Rodgers tries to engineer another final victory over Rangers, the question remains: who should he select in midfield?

The case for Arne Engles

Monitoring Matt O’Riley’s £25 million for sale BrightonCeltic broke their transfer record to replace him, paying Augsburg £11 million for services to Arne Engles.

This was a huge expenditure considering the context, the club the previous record fee was £9 million to Paris Saint-Germain, turning Odson Edouard’s loan deal into a permanent move six years ago.

From replacement Bundesliga for Glasgow, Engles has become a Belgian internationalalthough he is yet to achieve a guaranteed starting place at Celtic, introduced as a second half substitute on Tuesday in Zagreb, despite a goal against Hibernian the previous weekend.

Rodgers has four attacking midfielders at his disposal, and two of the quartet will start alongside the captain Callum McGregor on weekends, so how does Engles compare to his peers?

As the table shows, Engles ranks highly in all metrics, compared to his teammates who play in the same position.

His the manager recently stated that “Arne is a fantastic young player”, backing him to emulate winger Kuhn, who struggled to make an immediate impact following his move from Rapid Vienna but has been outstanding this season, scored 11 goals in all competitions.

Based on the above stats, Rogers should start with Angles Reo Hatatewith Paul Bernard missing from the start, due to his superior passing ability, with Rangers likely to defend deep, meaning Celtic will see plenty of the ball, with an average of 57% possession in the last eight The Glasgow derby, which has only finished with less than 50% once in this period.

Either way, the Hoops are firm favorites to win Sunday’s final, and the Belgian is likely to feature prominently, should they indeed win.