O’Neill has a “younger Virgil van Dijk” who might finish Scales’ Celtic profession

Celtic wanted a last-gasp equaliser from new signing Junior Adamu to forestall themselves from being knocked out of the SFA Cup on the final 16 stage final weekend.

Dundee regarded set for a spot within the final eight after a screamer from Ethan Hamilton within the second half, just for the Freiburg loanee to brilliantly flick the ball into the again of the web.

Sebastian Tounekti then scored the winner simply seconds into further time and the Hoops had been in a position to see out the sport for a 2-1 win, reserving a gathering with Rangers within the quarter-finals.

While Hamilton’s aim for Dundee was a particular strike, Liam Scales’ defending for the preliminary run from Cameron Congreve and when confronted up with Hamilton was questionable.

The Eire worldwide did not put a problem in on Congreve earlier than permitting the previous Manchester United midfielder all of the house he wanted to shift the ball onto his left foot to take a comparatively unchallenged shot from distance.

Why Celtic might have to drop Liam Scales

Martin O’Neill might need to drop the left-footed defender from the aspect within the coming weeks due to his latest performances for the Scottish Premiership giants.

The previous Aberdeen loanee’s performances within the Premiership, specifically, have declined compared to the 2024/25 marketing campaign, as he has struggled in floor duels, dropping 51% of them this time period.

Scales has misplaced a better share of his duels on the bottom and within the air than he did final season, which means that he has been a yard or two off the tempo within the present marketing campaign.

On prime of his struggles in duels, the Irishman has misplaced possession 30 instances within the final three Premiership and Europa League video games mixed. He has been too sloppy with the ball at his ft at instances, gifting the ball again to the opposition too typically.

Cameron Carter-Vickers’ long-term damage has led to Auston Trusty and Scales, two left-footed defenders, being the first-choice pairing for O’Neill, however the supervisor might completely finish Scales’ profession on the membership by unleashing a proficient younger defender in his place.

The defender who might finish Scales’ Celtic profession

Dropping the Eire worldwide from the beginning line-up for a right-footed centre-back would permit Trusty to maneuver over to the left, the place he’s extra pure at enjoying the ball out from.

Dane Murray has been offering back-up on the bench in latest months, however the Scottish teen misplaced three of his 4 duels towards Falkirk in a begin within the Premiership earlier this month and, after all, scored an personal aim and gave away a penalty towards Hearts earlier this season.

Celtic, nonetheless, signed 20-year-old centre-back Benjamin Arthur on mortgage from Premier League aspect Brentford on deadline day, and he might be the participant who ends Scales’ profession at Parkhead.

He’s but to make his debut for the Hoops, as O’Neill didn’t choose him towards Dundee, however the teen seems to have the potential to be an thrilling prospect for the Hoops.

Steven Pressley, now supervisor of Dundee, labored with Arthur throughout his time as a coach at Brentford and described him as a “big unit” who is sort of a “younger Virgil van Dijk”, which is a big comparability to make, provided that the previous Celtic defender is now Liverpool’s captain.

Arthur has solely made three appearances at senior stage in his profession, so far, so it’s onerous to say with any certainty that he can step in and be O’Neill’s personal model of van Dijk, however his performances within the League Cup for Brentford this season had been extremely promising.

The 20-year-old starlet began each of the Bees’ League Cup matches towards Aston Villa and Grimbsy, impressing, earlier than he was an unused substitute in a 2-0 loss to Manchester Metropolis.

Arthur received 73% of his duels, together with 67% of his floor duels, in these two appearances within the League Cup, which means that the potential is there for him to step in as an improve on Scales, who has misplaced nearly all of his floor duels within the Premiership.

The English centre-back, given Pressley’s feedback and his statistics for Brentford, seems to be a dominant and van Dijk-esque participant who doesn’t give attackers a lot of an opportunity to beat him in bodily duels, not like Scales this season.

Whether or not he might be that form of participant for Celtic within the Premiership and the Europa League stays to be seen, however the Hoops signed him for a cause.

It’s now right down to O’Neill to unleash Arthur from the beginning within the weeks and months to return to have a pure steadiness of a right-footer and a left-footer within the centre-back pairing, while additionally ditching the underperforming Scales from the XI.

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The upcoming summer season switch window might, then, be fascinating if Scales finds himself out of the beginning XI with Carter-Vickers attributable to come again subsequent season, because it might throw his future and profession at Parkhead into doubt.