Hibernian 0
xG 0.57
Celtic 0
xG 1.48
Celtic had 2.06 xPts in this game which was less than last season's 2.47 and 2.37 at Easter Road.
Celtic's total xPts for this season (excluding the Dundee game) is 20.21 and comparing that to the first game against the same opponents at the same venues last season that's 2.75% higher.
xG is 4.3% higher however xGA is 15.31% worse with Celtic giving their opponents more chances this season.
Celtic's possession was 71% in this game and that was more than the 70% and 69% from last season versus Hibernian at Easter Road although passes were less at 742 v 779 and 828. Although final 3rd passes were more at 256 v 207 and 252. Possession in Hibernian's defensive third was 34% versus 31% and 33% last season.
In the post match press conference Brendan Rodgers mentioned Celtic had more long balls than he had wanted and comparing versus last season at Easter Road Celtic had 39 long balls versus 32 and 33 last season.
Celtic had 21 shots at goal which is more than the two visits to Easter Road last season however the Non Penalty xG of 1.48 was less than both games last season which were 1.69 and 1.59. The Non Penalty xG per shot 0.07 was less than last season's 0.089 and 0.094. Shot map below with Celtic's shots on the right.
Celtic's Post Shot xG was 41% of xG and that is the lowest of the season with the 2nd lowest being 69% away to Kilmarnock. 3rd lowest was 104%.
Hibernian had the better xG quarter in the 3rd quarter which was due to Martin Boyle's chance which had an xG of 0.37. This was the best chance of the game.
Celtic's defenders had 60.9% of the team's passes and that is the 2nd highest of the season with the St Johnstone game being the highest at 62%. The other game where Celtic dropped points.
Celtic's midfield only had 23.5% of the team's passes and that's the 3rd lowest of the season with Celtic not winning all three of those games.. Feyenoord away and Kilmarnock away being the other two.
The fourth lowest was 23.7% against St Johnstone where again points were dropped.
Out of the four games you can understand it being difficult to get the midfielders on the ball in Rotterdam as Celtic were down to 9 men. Out of the other 3 - Kilmarnock (Away), St Johnstone (Home) and Hibernian (Away) - Hatate was missing in those 3 games. Maybe missing his movement to create space for others impacted the team more than some would think.
The highest was 35.3% against Livingston away where Celtic won 3-0 and Hatate played.
Out of the 16 most played Celtic players this season Reo Hatate is the only player to be achieving 3 points per match for league games. He was also missing in the cup tie against Kilmarnock which Celtic lost. The player with the least points per match is David Turnbull with 2.43.
Scales made 151 passes which was the joint most of the season. (Scales also made 151 against Kilmarnock at home). Kyogo only made 1 pass which is his lowest of the season and follows his 2nd highest of the season versus Atletico Madrid where he made 16 passes. Kyogo's 1 pass was unsuccessful meaning he had 0 accurate passes.
Celtic lined up with;
Hart
Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales and Taylor
O'Riley, McGregor and Bernardo
Maeda, Kyogo and Palma
Celtic had one change to the starting line up from midweek with Bernardo coming in for the injured Hatate.
This change meant Brendan Rodgers couldn't have the same starting 11 for the 4th game in a row which is something Ange Postecoglou didn't achieve in his time at Celtic.
With Bernardo being promoted to the starting 11 Mikey Johnston took Bernardo's place on the bench.
Ralston, Turnbull, Forrest, Oh and Mikey Johnston all came on as subs for Alistair Johnston, Bernardo, Maeda, Kyogo and Palma.
Unused subs were Bain, Phillips, Iwata and Yang.
Best performers in this game for xG were Forrest 0.51 and McGregor 0.16 and best for xA were Turnbull 0.45 and Scales 0.19. Top goal contributor was Forrest on 0.6.
Top rated players were O'Riley 7.5, Carter-Vickers 7.3 and Taylor 7.3 and the lowest rated were at Kyogo 6.1 and Bernardo and Maeda both on 6.3.
Sponsored by The Green Machine '67
https://www.facebook.com/greenmachine67
Celtic Trends 🍀📈⚽️
Tony@CelticTrends.com
Comments