Celtic dropped points in the Scottish Premiership for only the second time in 16 matches when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United at Tannadice Park on Sunday.
Their only other draw came against Aberdeen, a match that finished 2-2 after they went into the break at 2-0 up, and they remain nine points clear at the top of the table.
Brendan Rodgers was without some of his players for the clash with Dundee United, though, as Nicolas Kuhn, Auston Trusty, and Cameron Carter-Vickers all missed out through injury.
Celtic’s defensive record has been outstanding this season and that has been, in part, thanks to the likes of Trusty and Carter-Vickers at the heart of the defence.
Celtic’s outstanding defence
The Hoops have only conceded four goals in 16 league matches, keeping 13 clean sheets, as Kasper Schmeichel has enjoyed a sensational start to his career at Parkhead.
Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, and Trusty have all started at least nine league matches for the Scottish giants so far this term, and have all played important roles in the fantastic defensive record.
As you can see in the table above, all three of those centre-backs have excelled in different areas and Rodgers does not have one player in that position who has been a standout in every defensive situation, which illustrates the strength in depth.
However, there is one central defender in the squad who should finally be ditched when the January transfer window opens for business – Stephen Welsh.
Why Stephen Welsh should be sold
The Scottish defender started and helped Celtic to keep a clean sheet, albeit against a toothless Dundee United side, on Sunday but that was his first league outing of the season.
He had been an unused substitute in 13 of his last 14 appearances in the matchday squad, with his only other start coming against lower league side Falkirk in the League Cup.
This does not suggest that Celtic are getting value for money from Welsh, when you consider that he is reportedly earning more per week (£8.6k) than Scales (£5k), per Salary Sport.
Welsh, who is also worth 10 times less (€800k) than Trusty (€8m), per Transfermarkt, has only made 11 league appearances and started six games since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, whilst Scales has started 46 in that time.
Anthony Joseph recently reported that KV Mechelen have made a loan bid to sign the defender, who wants regular game time, and that Celtic are open to offers for the rarely-seen dud.
The Hoops must, now, push for it to be a permanent deal, or for them to cover all of his wages, as his lack of minutes on the pitch over the last 18 months shows that they are not getting value for money, given that Scales has been far more important to the team and reportedly earns less.
