A British showdown is set to take place at Celtic Park as Scottish Premiership champions Celtic welcome Premier League team Newcastle United for a pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon.
Last season’s League Cup winners of Scotland and England are going to compete to win the inaugural adidas Trophy, with both teams’ partners of the German sportswear brand.
Rodgers praised his team’s “outstanding” display and tactical brilliance in the Algarve. Although Celtic have netted two goals in each of their last three friendlies, he felt they “lacked a bit in the final third” against Sporting and could have scored more.
Following a successful period in the Iberian Peninsula, Celtic are now gearing up to return to Glasgow for this weekend’s match against Newcastle, before travelling to Como for their final friendly against Dutch powerhouse Ajax on July 24—just 10 days prior to starting their Premiership title defense at home versus St Mirren.
Last season, Newcastle ended a 70-year wait for domestic silverware by winning the EFL Cup in March. Eddie Howe’s squad also finished fifth in the Premier League, securing Champions LNewcastle have recently begun their pre-season with a strong 4-0 win over non-league Carlisle United in a closed-door match at their training ground last weekend.
After missing the last five Premier League games of the previous season due to injury, fan favorite Joelinton made a successful comeback by scoring a goal. Jacob Murphy, Ben Parkinson, and Sean Longstaff, who is set to join Leeds United, also found the net.
Howe and his team recently completed a brief pre-season training camp in Austria. Newcastle are now gearing up for their first friendly at Celtic Park since 2004, when Sir Bobby Robson’s team lost 2-1 to Celtic.
About 10,000 Newcastle supporters expected to travel to Glasgow, marking their first visit since the club faced Celtic’s rivals Rangers in 2023, securing a 2-1 win at Ibrox in a testimonial for Rangers legend Allan McGregor.
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Howe will be looking to gain valuable insights from the match against Celtic this weekend before heading to Singapore and South Korea to continue their pre-season. There, they will face Arsenal at the Singapore Festival of Football, followed by matches against an all-star K League team and Tottenham Hotspur in the Coupang Play Series.eague qualification for the second time in three years.
In summary, Newcastle used two different lineups in each half of their win against Carlisle, and Howe will probably do the same to ensure as many players as possible get valuable game time to boost their match fitness.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Kenny, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Nygren, Engels; Forrest, Idah, Maeda
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Burn; Willock, Miley, Guimaraes; Elanga, Osula, Gordon
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