3 minute read
13/5/2022 | 05:10pm
Celtic play their final game of the season on Saturday as the Hoops return to Parkhead as newly-crowned Premiership champions after their 1-1 draw against Dundee United in midweek.
This time, the Bhoys take on Motherwell in front of their home crowd, after which they will the trophy and potentially topping off what has been a brilliant domestic season with another win.
In midweek, after a goalless first half, Giorgos Giakoumakis opened the scoring with 53 minutes on the clock, only for Dylan Levitt to equalize later on.
Despite the draw, a point was all that was needed for the Bhoys to take the league title off their Old Firm rivals Rangers.
Even though the title is already secured, Ange Postecoglou will still want to see his team pick up a win tomorrow and give their home supporters something else to celebrate. To that effect, one man who started at Tannadice but should not be in the team on this occasion is Reo Hatate.
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Ange must ax Hatate
With 63 minutes of action under his belt on Wednesday, the midfielder only completed 22 of the 34 passes he attempted and failed to register even one shot on target before being replaced by Tom Rogic.
This underwhelming display caught the attention of The Scotsman journalist Alan Pattullo, who wrote that the 24-year-old was ‘wasteful with a couple of opportunities including when he took the ball off [Liel] Abada’s toes in the first half but fired high over’.
With that in mind, it could be said that the £14.5k-per-week Japan international has been holding the team back in an attacking regard and stopping them from getting as many goals as they can.
Should Hatate start against Motherwell?
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In terms of who Postecoglou could turn to on this occasion if he does take Hatate out of the side, with the recent announcement from the club that Rogic will be waving goodbye to the Hoops after this weekend, the 56-year-old may give his fellow Australian one last outing in front of the home fans before he leaves Parkhead.
With both Rogic and Nir Bitton leaving Celtic this summer, the Japanese ace will be able to show next season that he can be a suitable midfield replacement for the departing duo, and an important player for the club as a whole.
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