Beram Kayal is one of the main threats to Scotland’s Nations League hopes in Israel tomorrow night.
The midfielder slipped quietly out of Celtic in January 2015 but has helped Brighton into the English Premier League and has been an important part of Chris Hughton’s squad although rarely a first pick in the top flight.
Kayal made a massive impact on Celtic when Neil Lennon signed him in 2010 but a bad run of injuries and the emergence of Victor Wanyama saw his influence reduced.
Israel have been as hopeless as Scotland over the last decade with tomorrow’s match unlikely to be watched by anyone outside of the competing nations.
Former Rangers (IL) goalkeeper Boni Ginzburg is a leading pundit in Israel and believes that his nation has two players capable of getting the points against Alex McLeish’s side.
“Dabour (Moanes) and Kayal are the two exceptions,” the former Ibrox reserve told The Sun. “They are in really good shape.
“Everyone saw Salzburg beating Celtic in the Europa League last week and know how dangerous Dabour is. He scored two goals and is a good striker, who I believe can cause Scotland problems.
“In midfield, Kayal is very important. I watched his last two Premier League games for Brighton. He looks strong, he is in good shape and I expect him to start against Scotland.
“Kayal will know some of the players from his time at Celtic and he will be keen to impress.
“Those two players will be really important for Israel as a lot of the team are not in the best shape right now.
“Unfortunately, in this generation we just don’t have enough good players.
“They don’t play at the highest level in Europe, and a lot don’t even play at the second highest level.
“That causes a problem and that is the reason why we have gone down the world rankings very quickly.
“But on a specific day, Israel can do something if our best players like Dabour and Kayal produce a performance.”
A win for Israel will leave all three countries on three points with a win and a draw from their first two matches.
The winner of the group goes forward to a play off for a play off place at the 2020 European Championships.