Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
There have been many reasons mooted as to why Celtic are really struggling for form this season.
Brendan Rodgers‘ return and a different style of play was one. The fact that Kyogo Furuhashi is playing a different role is another.
And, of course, the unending list of injuries that the Celtic manager has had to deal with is a third. However, there is one player that Barry Ferguson reckons Celtic really miss this season and he believes that when he returns from injury, it will make a huge difference to the team.
Ferguson said [], “If you look who’s missing. Maeda is a massive miss. I don’t care what anybody says. He’s physically strong as well, Maeda.
“He’ll put a right shift in and he’s got good quality.
Why Daizen Maeda is so important to Celtic
Everybody knows just how important Maeda’s work rate is to Celtic. The Japan international was lauded earlier this season for his energy and unrelenting pressing as he helped Rodgers take a firm grip at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
In eleven games for Celtic this season, Maeda has scored two and created two. He has been Man of the Match once, against Livingston, makes two shots on goal per game and has an average rating of 7.05. []
Defensively he successfully averages 1.4 tackles per game and is dribbled past 0.4 times each fixture.
Maeda makes around 21.5 passes each week with a success rate of 78.3%. The 26-year-old also manages around one key pass and dribbles past his opponent 1.6 times. His pace is also electric.
Whilst doubts remain on his ability to produce a final ball, what Maeda brings to the team as a whole and how he supports the Celtic fullbacks cannot be underestimated.
In other news,