Celtic’s perfect start to the 2024/25 campaign continued with a thumping 6-0 victory over St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
The Hoops have now won all six of their games in the top-flight and are yet to concede a goal, with Kasper Schmeichel on six clean sheets in six appearances for the club in the league since his move from Anderlecht in the summer transfer window.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have also won both of their League Cup ties and their one outing in the Champions League, which means that they have won all nine of their games in all competitions.
Their impressive record may face the toughest test yet, however, as they face Borussia Dortmund away from home in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Rodgers will need his best players to step up to the mark and shine against the Bundesliga giants to record a tenth straight win in all competitions this season.
One star who has hit the ground running and emerged as one of the club’s best players since his move to Parkhead in the summer transfer window is central midfielder Arne Engels.
Arne Engels' fast start to life at Celtic
The Scottish giants swooped to sign the 21-year-old starlet from Augsburg last month and the Belgium international has been an instant success at Paradise.
Celtic splashed out a club-record transfer fee of £11m to sign the Bundesliga gem and this shows how much faith they had in the young ace, as they were willing to smash their transfer record to bring him to Scotland.
There was no guarantee that Engels would hit the ground running this season, however, as the midfielder only started 13 of his 32 appearances in the Bundesliga last term, which means that he did not arrive at Parkhead having been a regular starter for his former club.
The midfield whiz has very quickly shown, though, that he is more than good enough to play week-in-week-out for Celtic in the Premiership.
Engels has already produced two goals and two assists in five appearances in all competitions for the Hoops, including a goal and an assist on his Champions League debut – for the club and in his career – against Slovan earlier this month.
Appearances
3
Sofascore rating
7.43
Goals
1
Big chances created
1
Dribble success rate
100%
Duel success rate
60%
As you can see in the table above, the £11m-rated ace has been a terrific operator in the middle of the park for Rodgers with his contributions in and out of possession.
Engels, who also made a whopping six tackles against Slovan, has won the majority of his physical duels and this shows that he has quickly adapted to the physicality of the Scottish game, despite his young age.
The Belgian sensation has been one of the stars of the show for Celtic but there is another gem in the squad who is fast becoming the club’s best player over the former Bundesliga maestro – Liam Scales.
Liam Scales' performance against St Johnstone
The Ireland international once again lined up in the heart of the defence against St Johnstone on Saturday and produced another fantastic display at the back.
He was tasked with playing alongside another left-footed centre-back, in Auston Trusty, due to Cameron Carter-Vickers’ absence through injury, and maintained his impressive performance level that he has had all season.
The former Aberdeen loanee provided a dominant and composed presence to help Celtic to their sixth straight clean sheet in the Premiership.
Ground duels won
1/3
3/4
Aerial duels won
4/5
11/11
Tackles + interceptions
2
3
Clearances
1
2
Passes completed
102
98
As you can see in the table above, Scales won 14 of his 15 duels to dominate the St Johnstone attackers and completed a similar number of passes to his centre-back partner, who did not have anywhere near as much joy in his defensive duels.
This was not a one-off performance from the Irish colossus, however, as his performances throughout the Premiership season so far have been superb to watch, and he is proving himself to be the best player in the squad this season.
Liam Scales' performances this season
The 26-year-old monster has started all six of the club’s league matches and played every single minute, as the Hoops have kept six clean sheets.
He has brilliantly protected Schmeichel between the sticks with his dominant defensive displays to keep the ball away from the Danish shot-stopper.
Scales has won 71% of his ground duels and 76% of his aerial battles in the Premiership, which shows that opposition attackers have found it incredibly difficult to get the better of him in physical contests.
The Irish brute has also made 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game and has remained composed in possession of the ball, with a pass success rate of 93%.
These statistics show that Scales has been pivotal to the club’s sensational clean sheet record, as his defensive dominance, his tackles and interceptions, and his reliability on the ball, have all helped to keep opposition teams away from the Celtic goal.
Sofascore rating
8.1
Duels won
9/13
Tackles
5
Clearances
3
Goals
1
As you can see in the table above, the Irishman also caught the eye in his performance against Slovan in the Champions League at Parkhead earlier this month.
The central defender opened the scoring with a thumping header from Engels’ corner and went on to provide defensive stability with nine duels and five tackles won throughout the match.
Scales has proven his quality in the Premiership and in Europe already this season and has shown himself to be a key figure at the back for Rodgers, and arguably his best player.
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Stars like Engels, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Nicolas Kuhn only get to do what they do in the final third because of the platform that Scales’ defensive dominance provides them with, which is why you could argue that he is fast becoming the team’s best player.
