Celtic maintained their three-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday with a 2-1 win away from Glasgow against Dundee.
The Hoops travelled to Dens Park after their rivals had won earlier in the game, leaving the two teams at the top of the division tied on points, and secured all three points to move clear at the summit.
A brace from James Forrest, who came in to replace Hyun-jun Yang in the starting XI, won the match for the Scottish giants, as the veteran winger stepped up with an important double.
It was far from a dominant performance by Celtic, though, as they were tied with Dundee for shots on target (six) and corners (eight), which shows that both sides created a similar number of chances.
Brendan Rodgers' side now face the other two teams in the top three in their next two matches at Parkhead and may not be able to afford many players having off-days if they want to pick up vital wins to secure the title.
FFC have published an article suggesting that captain Callum McGregor may need to be dropped from the starting XI, but centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi should also be ditched from the lineup alongside the skipper.
Why Callum McGregor should be dropped for Celtic
The Scotland international returned from an Achilles injury earlier this month and has yet to prove that he is back to his usual self and ready to start matches.
McGregor has completed 92% of his attempted passes, 58% of his long pass attempts, and made 1.5 key passes per game in the Premiership across 31 appearances so far this season.
This shows that he is usually a metronomic figure in the middle of the park who can retain possession at an exceptional rate whilst also creating chances for his teammates.
Touches
55
Possession lost
11x
Pass success rate
82% (36/44)
Accurate long passes
1/5
Key passes
0
As you can see in the table above, that was not the case against Dundee as the 30-year-old dynamo lost the ball 11 times from 55 touches and failed to complete a single key pass.
The left-footed leader was not at his best and the Achilles injury may be playing a part in his struggles, which is why Rodgers should drop him to the bench for now.
Why Brendan Rodgers should drop Kyogo Furuhashi
Kyogo must be dropped alongside McGregor after a largely anonymous display against Dundee as the lone striker for the Scottish giants on Sunday.
The Japan international did assist the opening goal from Forrest, to his credit, but it did appear to be a loose touch or pass with his left foot that bobbled up to the Scottish winger, who brilliantly improvised to flash in a volley from the edge of the box.
Football Insider writer James Murray awarded him a match rating of 2/10 in their player ratings piece, stating that the attacker needs to do 'more' if he wants to maintain his place in the starting XI for Celtic.
Touches
10
Passes completed
2
Shots
0
Big chances created
0
Assists
1
Duels won
1/2
Dribbles completed
0
As you can see in the table above, Kyogo offered very little to the team in and out of possession throughout his 62 minutes on the pitch at Dens Park, with 39 fewer touches than goalkeeper Joe Hart (49) – illustrating his lack of work in possession.
Aside from his assist, which appeared to be rather fortunate and owed more to the finish from Forrest, the 29-year-old lightweight did not contribute much.
He lost possession five times from just ten touches of the ball and only contested in two duels, which illustrates how sloppy the attacker was in possession and how hesitant Kyogo was to put himself about to compete with opposition defenders.
The Japanese striker has also struggled in his last two matches against Hearts and Rangers, with zero goals, zero assists, six shots, and one 'big chance' missed – along with a pass accuracy of 58% in both games.
Therefore, Rodgers must brutally drop the forward, who has scored 11 goals and missed a staggering 21 'big chances' in the Premiership this season, to the bench for the upcoming clash with the Jam Tarts this weekend.
The alternatives to Kyogo Furuhashi
The Celtic manager has Norwich City loanee Adam Idah, who joined the club on deadline day at the start of February, and South Korea international Hyeon-gyu Oh as alternative options to Kyogo.
It seems unlikely that Rodgers would suddenly turn to Oh, who has failed to even make the bench since the clash with St Johnstone on the 16th of March.
There has not been an injury update on the 23-year-old centre-forward, which suggests that the manager has decided not to involve him in matchday squads for tactical or performance reasons.
Appearances
11
20
Starts
4
3
Goals
7
5
Big chances missed
6
5
Assists
2
0
As you can see in the table above, Idah has offered far more to the team than Oh in the Premiership so far this season, with four more direct goal contributions in nine fewer appearances.
This suggests that the Ireland international is the better option of the two, hence why the South Korean dud has been excluded from the squad of late, due to his quality in the final third.
Idah came on with 28 minutes to go against Dundee and completed more passes (nine) and more dribbles (one) than Kyogo did in his 62 minutes, whilst also competing in more duels (seven).
This shows that the 23-year-old marksman, who has won 65% of his aerial duels in the Premiership this season, was able to get involved in the match, physically and technically, to provide an outlet at the top end of the pitch.
Therefore, Celtic could benefit from dropping Kyogo, who has averaged a goal every 206 minutes in the league, for Idah, who has scored every 69 minutes on average in the division.
The Irishman, who scored against Rangers at Ibrox recently, could offer a greater goal threat whilst also providing more physicality and link-up play with his willingness to get involved in games with passes and dribbles, whilst the current starter had ten touches and made two passes in 62 minutes on Sunday.
