Celtic have the chance to all but confirm their third successive Scottish Premiership title in the Old Firm clash at Parkhead on Saturday at 12:30 pm.

The Hoops would move six points clear, with a healthy goal difference advantage, and that would require a sensational collapse over the final two league matches to stop them from winning the division.

However, a loss would put Rangers level on points with them at the top of the table and tee up a tense end to the 2023/24 campaign, with the Bhoys set to play Kilmarnock and St Mirren.

Despite a 3-0 win over Hearts last time out, Brendan Rodgers must boldly ditch one of the players from his last starting XI in order to give his team the best chance in the Old Firm – Reo Hatate.

Why Reo Hatate should be dropped

The Japan international has missed a whopping 37 matches for club and country since the start of the season through injury and this means that he has been battling his way back to full fitness.

Unfortunately, this means that the 26-year-old star has not been at the peak of his powers and that was on display with an underwhelming performance against Hearts.

He did set up the opening goal for Celtic with a clever cross with his left foot back across the box from a corner to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a close-range header.

Minutes played

71

Key passes

2

Pass accuracy

71%

Possession lost

25x

Duels won

0/6

Tackles + interceptions

0

However, as you can see in the table above, the rest of his display left plenty to be desired, as he lost possession a staggering 25 times in just 71 minutes of action.

It was a rusty performance from the Japanese maestro as he was dominated, losing 100% of his duels, by the opposition from a physical perspective, and a liability in possession with how often his play resulted in the ball going back to Hearts.

The player who should replace Reo Hatate

With this clash with Rangers being a must-not-lose match, given how close it is at the top of the table, Rodgers may not want a player who is not at the peak of his powers, with Hatate's performance against the Jam Tarts suggesting that he is off the pace at the moment.

Therefore, Tomoki Iwata should be brought back into the starting XI at the base of the midfield, with Callum McGregor and Matt O'Riley alongside him.

The 27-year-old battler has won 52% of his duels across 16 appearances in the Premiership so far this season, and has only lost possession 5.1 times per game on average, which suggests that he would be a far more reliable option than Hatate.

Iwata also won five of his eight ground duels and only lost possession nine times in the 3-3 draw with Rangers at Ibrox last month, whilst this compatriot lost three of his six battles and gave the ball away 12 times.

Rodgers must now ruthlessly ditch Hatate from the starting XI to unleash the defensive midfielder from the start, to provide his team with a solid base to work from at Parkhead on Saturday, rather than risk consistently giving the ball away and losing the physical battle in midfield.