Kilmarnock Preview: Iwata or Mooy, Kyogo to take Celts to 100 goals

We take a look ahead at tomorrow’s game at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock with two key questions to answer: Iwata or Mooy in midfield, and can Kyogo lead Celtic to the 100 goal mark in the league?

Celtic travel to Kilmarnock on Sunday looking to maintain the 12-point lead at the top of the Premiership table established after last weekend’s Glasgow Derby victory.

Following Saturday’s defeat of Rangers, Celtic now require 10 points from their remaining 7 fixtures to retain the title won back last season.  However, listening to Ange Postecoglou and Alistair Johnston’s pre-match press conferences, neither the manager or the squad will allow themselves to think too far into the future.

As Johnston put it, the management and players have a “laser focus” on the job in hand, and that job is to leave Ayrshire on Sunday afternoon with another 3 points in the bag.

Having disposed of Kilmarnock 3 times already this season on league and cup duty, with an aggregate score of 9-0, hopes are high of another success this weekend.

RUGBY PARK REVISITED

Celtic’s previous visit to Ayrshire this season saw the Hoops run out comfortable 5-0 victors on the artificial surface of Rugby Park.

The goals were evenly distributed throughout with Kyogo, Jota, Starfelt and the now departed Jenz and Giakoumakis all getting in on the act.

With Derek McIness’ men fighting for their Premiership survival, the home side will likely look to defend deep and in numbers, with the aim of frustrating Celtic and hitting on the break.

It is an approach that Celtic are used to coming up against, and once again, patience may be the key to breaking down the opposition with the Celtic’s strength in depth off the bench being a great asset that Ange can call upon if needed.

THE IWATA QUESTION

While last Saturday’s win over Rangers may not have been Celtic’s most polished performance of the season, the contribution of second half substitute Tomoki Iwata was vital in securing the three points.

The Japanese midfield was introduced for the below par Aaron Mooy around the hour mark on Saturday as the visitors began the second half strongly.  After Iwata’s entrance, the Celtic midfield began to re-assert their control on the game, leading to the Hoops building a 2 goal lead.

Iwata brought control and precision passing to the midfield as well as providing a solid base alongside Callum McGregor that was missing when the out of sorts Mooy was on the park.

The big question ahead of tomorrow’s game is whether Iwata starts, or if Mooy is given a another chance now that he has had a full week of training under his belt following his return from injury.

If, as expected, Kilmarnock line up with a low block and play with 9 or 10 behind the ball, then it may be that Mooy’s creativity and progressive passing are better suited to breaking down the opposition.  Iwata’s inclusion would mean McGregor stepping forward into the #8 role, one he has played many times before, but also where he struggled to make an impact in recently against Ross County.

The decision of who starts in midfield will certainly be a talking point that will rage on beyond the announcing of the team at 11am tomorrow morning.

KYOGOAL

Following another two-goal display against Rangers at the weekend, Kyogo now leads the scoring charts with 22 league goals this season and 28 in all competitions, averaging an incredible 0.9 goals/90.

Arguably the most complete forward to have donned the Hoops since Henrik Larsson, Kyogo is well on course to breach the 30 goal mark this season with a target of 35 not insurmountable.

Kyogo has history of scoring against Kilmarnock at Rugby, he opened their earlier this season, and with Celtic just two goals shy of 100 in the league for the campaign, few would bet against the Japanese being on hand to help Celtic hit another fantastic milestone tomorrow.

His clever movement and sharp finishing has been a thorn in the side of defences all season and if presented with the chances tomorrow we could well see Kyogo hit the headlines again.

TEAM NEWS

At Friday’s press conference, Ange confirmed that Reo Hatate remains side lined along with James Forrest, Tony Ralston, and Liel Abada.

Concerns over the artificial surface may see Greg Taylor rested in favour of Alexandro Bernabei.  Taylor has been carrying a knock in recent weeks and, with the Scottish Cup semi-final in mind, Ange may be tempted to leave him out as a precaution.  That said, the ‘laser focus’ of the manager may not allow him to think too far ahead, with the semi-final not even in his thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s game.

The visit of South Korean national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann to the game to monitor the progress of Oh is unlikely to influence the team selection.  Kyogo, the two-goal hero of last weekend, has been in excellent form this season and should keep his place in the team, with Oh having to settle for making an impact off the bench.

POSSIBLE LINE UP