Celtic turn their attention back to the Scottish Premiership this weekend as they prepare to host fourth-placed Kilmarnock at Parkhead this afternoon.
The Hoops had their lead at the top of the table cut down to just goal difference during the week as their rivals moved level on points with them, with the same number of games played.
There is no getting away from the fact that Brendan Rodgers' side are very much in a title race and that makes every single match vitally important in their bid to win the league.
The Bhoys ran out 2-0 winners against St Mirren last time out in the SFA Cup, to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition, thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda.
Away from the attack, Rodgers could improve his side by moving Stephen Welsh, who started that match, out of the way for Gustaf Lagerbielke to finally be unleashed from the start.
Stephen Welsh's form this season
The 24-year-old defender only featured in four Premiership matches under Ange Postecoglou throughout the 2022/23 campaign but has already played five under the Northern Irish boss this term.
He has been a fairly unimpressive performer at the heart of the Hoops defence with his inaction defensively and lack of strength in physical duels.
Appearances
Five
Tackles per game
0.0
Interceptions per game
0.2
Ground duel success rate
25%
Sofascore rating
6.74
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the Scottish defender has not stepped in to cut out many opposition attacks and has been dominated by attackers on the deck across his five league appearances for the club.
17 Celtic players have averaged more interceptions per game than Welsh, whilst 27 players within the squad have made at least one tackle for the team.
The 24-year-old enforcer started the club's last Premiership match against Hibernian and failed to impress. He lost five of his eight duels and did not make a single clearance, interception, block, or tackle throughout his 66 minutes on the pitch.
These statistics suggest that the academy graduate, who has made 66 competitive appearances for the first-team, did not do much to help his side out defensively, which is why Rodgers should be open to ditching him from the XI.
Why Lagerbielke should finally be unleashed
The Sweden international was signed from Elfsborg last summer on a permanent basis but has not been provided with many opportunities to showcase his quality this season.
Despite his lack of action on the pitch, the young defender's value on FootballTransfers has soared by 650% during his time at Parkhead and Rodgers could unearth a new star by bringing him into the side on a regular basis, particularly ahead of Welsh.
His last Premiership appearance came at the start of January and his last start in the division came against Motherwell back in September 2023.
The 23-year-old has made six appearances in the league, including four starts, for the Hoops this season and Celtic have not conceded a single goal in his 403 minutes on the pitch, with the only goal let in during those six games coming after he was substituted against Motherwell.
You could try to argue that this is a coincidence, given the limited number of matches, but his individual statistics suggest that he played a significant role in that defensive success in those six clashes.
Appearances
Six
Tackles per game
1.8
Interceptions per game
0.2
Ball recoveries per game
5.7
Clearances per game
3.3
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the 6 foot 4 titan was far more active defensively in his appearances for Celtic in the Premiership earlier this season than Welsh has been for the Hoops.
The Scottish defender has averaged 2.6 ball recoveries and 1.2 clearances per match to go along with his aforementioned 0.2 tackles and interceptions combined per outing.
This suggests that Lagerbielke has the ability to cut out and clear opposition attacks far more frequently each match on average than the Bhoys academy graduate.
The "hungry", as he was described by Rodgers, colossus has also won an outstanding 87% of his ground duels in the Premiership this season, which is a higher success rate than any other centre-back in the squad has managed this term.
It is also staggeringly better than Welsh's poor ground duel success rate of 25% and suggests that Lagerbielke would come in as a big upgrade on the 24-year-old dud, both in terms of his physical and defensive attributes.
This is why Rodgers must finally unleash him from the start for the first time in 2024 as he could offer more to the team than the Scottish lightweight has.
Liam Scales' emergence this season
Lagerbielke is a right-footed defender who could complement the left-foot of Scales in possession to ensure that Celtic are balanced when they play out from the back.
The Ireland international, who spent the 2022/23 campaign on loan with Aberdeen, has emerged as a regular starter for the Scottish giants this season, with 23 league starts to his name so far.
He has been a dominant figure at the heart of the Hoops defence with a duel success rate of 65% across those 23 matches – winning 70% of his ground battles and 63% of his aerial contests.
This shows that, like Lagerbielke, Scales has the positioning and the physicality to dominate opposition attackers on the deck and in the air, whereas Welsh has been dominated by forwards in ground duels.
The 25-year-old enforcer has also made 2.6 tackles and interceptions per match for Celtic in the Premiership this season, which is more than Welsh and Lagerbielke combined.
Sofascore rating
7.9
Duels contested
Ten
Duels won
Eight
Clearances
Four
Blocks
Two
Stats via Sofascore
Scales, who has completed 88% of his attempted passes in the Premiership, was also outstanding against Hibernian last time out in the top-flight, as shown in the table above.
He won 80% of his duels and made six combined clearances and blocks to keep Hibs from troubling Joe Hart's goal prior to Adam Idah's stoppage time winner from the penalty spot.
Rodgers must now unleash Lagerbielke and Scales as a pairing against Kilmarnock this afternoon as they could form a dominant partnership moving forward based on their respective performances this season.