Celtic’s 11-touch star was even worse than Valle

But once more within the Scottish Premiership, it seems to be Celtic‘s title to lose following what has been one other imperious begin to the marketing campaign, with Brendan Rodgers‘ aspect nonetheless unbeaten within the prime flight following Wednesday’s win over Aberdeen.

The Dons had been the one aspect to take factors off the Outdated Agency giants this season, though, on the finish of one other hard-fought contest, it was the Hoops who claimed the victory at Pittodrie, thus widening their hole on the summit.

Reo Hatate’s late strike – which was superbly teed up by substitute Greg Taylor – sealed a 1-0 win on the highway for the Glasgow outfit, making certain their lead now rests at seven factors with a sport in hand on their closest rivals.

Rangers, in the meantime, stay 11 factors behind amid what has been a dismal home season for Philippe Clement and co.

Regardless of that wholesome benefit, there isn’t any room for complacency for the champions, with Rodgers prone to be considerably involved by the shows of some key people, together with younger Alex Valle.

Alex Valle’s sport in numbers vs Aberdeen

There is definitely been so much to love concerning the Barcelona loanee since his arrival at Parkhead over the summer time, with the 20-year-old full-back already chalking up four assists from just 12 appearances in all competitions.

The previous Levante ace was notably spectacular off the bench throughout the 1-1 draw with Membership Brugge every week in the past, having teed up Daizen Maeda’s equaliser simply minutes after coming into the fray.

Now trying like being Celtic’s new mortgage famous person – in the mould of Jota – the goal will now be for the teenager to realize consistency beneath Rodgers’ watch, having been taught one thing of a lesson on Wednesday evening.

Performance in Numbers

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Up towards the energetic Duk, Valle struggled to say himself down the left flank, having notably been caught out early on by a lofted ball excessive which allowed his reverse quantity to get an try on objective.

In all, the promising Spaniard received simply three of his 11 whole duels and misplaced possession on 16 events from simply 55 touches, having additionally failed to finish any of his 5 dribble makes an attempt, as per Sofascore.

Having additionally picked up an undoubtedly smooth yellow card simply after the 30-minute mark, the defender was then changed on the break, with the arrival of Taylor finally paying dividends as a result of his involvement in Hatate’s decisive effort.

A foul day on the workplace for Valle then, though he actually wasn’t alone in failing to ship for the guests, with one first-team star having arguably been worse on the day…

Celtic’s worst performer vs Aberdeen

The caveat to that is that Kyogo Furuhashi just isn’t a striker who seeks to get entangled within the build-up, providing a pure poaching presence, fairly than that Harry Kane-like playmaking type.

Kyogo’s file at Celtic by coach
Stat	Ange Postecoglou	Brendan Rodgers
Video games	83	69
Begins	71	57
Targets	54	26
Assists	10	8
Yellow playing cards	6	2
Minutes per objective	100	177
Minutes performed	5383	4589
Stats via Transfermarkt

That’s all properly and good, not least when the Japanese star is discovering the again of the online – having scored 80 goals in 151 games for the membership so far – but when the targets aren’t forthcoming, it leaves little to fall again on. Valle could also be a younger child studying his commerce, but Furuhashi is an skilled determine who ought to properly offer way more.

Certainly, the previous Vissel Kobe man averages simply 13.2 touches per game within the Premiership in 2024/25, having solely registered 11 touches at Pittodrie, earlier than being hooked simply after the hour mark.

Having been rested for the weekend win over Ross County, the 29-year-old hardly made essentially the most of that well-earned break amid his limp exhibiting towards the Dons, having additionally misplaced the ball on six events, whereas recording a move accuracy fee of simply 56%.

With the Hoops’ quantity eight additionally failing to win a single duel, whereas not even registering a single try on objective, it was a frankly nameless show in assault, with the introduction of Adam Idah offering a much more efficient focus within the closing phases – as indicated beneath.

There may be now maybe an actual determination to make over who needs to be Rodgers’ main marksman shifting ahead, with Idah having scored eight times throughout all fronts this season, whereas Kyogo has simply seven strikes to his name.

Equally, there could also be a case to be made that the 6 foot 3 Idah represents a greater match for these battling away journeys, emulating the function that Giorgos Giakoumakis usually used to tackle beneath Ange Postecoglou.

It’s encouraging, at the very least, that Rodgers does have two high quality choices to select from, with that depth of firepower set to be wanted to take care of this rampant title cost.