Celtic predicted XI tonight: Neil Lennon drops £16k-a-week midfielder, £4.5m man handed lifeline

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Celtic will hope to get their first Europa League group-stage win of the season, and make it two wins in a row in all competitions, at Parkhead tonight.

Neil Lennon’s Hoops brought an end to their winless run last weekend when they beat Aberdeen at Hampden to reach the 2019-20 Scottish Cup final.

Tonight, Celtic host Sparta Prague in Glasgow, the Czech side sitting bottom of Group H with two defeats from their opening two games.

A win for the Bhoys, combined with a loss for second-placed Lille, would put Lennon’s charges level on points with the French side.

Celtic are in stronger shape now than they were a couple of weeks ago, with Odsonne Edouard, Nir Bitton, Hatem Abd Elhamed and Ryan Christie all available again.

So, who could Lennon pick to face Sparta tonight?

While Scott Bain has excelled for Celtic in the past few weeks, we reckon the manager could hand Vasilis Barkas a lifeline to prove himself, bringing the £4.5million stopper back into the XI.

With Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer still out, the back four pretty much picks itself – that’s Jeremie Frimpong, Shane Duffy, Nir Bitton and Diego Laxalt.

In central midfield, Scott Brown and Callum McGregor are pretty much shoo-ins and are likely to start again.

Further up, Tom Rogic has shone in recent weeks, but Lennon could opt to give him a rest ahead of the Motherwell game.

This could see the £16,000-a-week Australian back on the bench, with Olivier Ntcham taking his place in the XI.

Ryan Christie was superb at the weekend, Mohamed Elyounoussi is in great form, and Odsonne Edouard is returning to full match fitness – no reason for Lennon to make changes there.

Celtic predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Barkas; Frimpong, Duffy, Bitton, Laxalt; Brown, McGregor; Christie, Ntcham, Elyounoussi; Edouard