Celtic are top of the Scottish Premiership table heading into the first international break of the 2023/24 campaign after their 1-0 Old Firm victory on Sunday.

How did Celtic beat Rangers?

The Hoops came out on top against their rivals at Ibrox over the weekend as they were able to come away with a clean sheet and all three points to lead the league after four matches.

Kyogo Furuhashi scored the only goal of the game as his sensational volley from distance nestled into the bottom corner of Jack Butland's net after Matt O'Riley's quick thinking sent him racing in behind Connor Goldson.

Brendan Rodgers' side had a number of other chances, for Kyogo, Liel Abada, and Hyeon-gyu Oh, to extend the lead but had to settle for the 1-0 scoreline in the end.

How did David Turnbull perform against Rangers?

Despite the win, there was a disappointing performance from one player in the middle of the park as David Turnbull struggled to showcase the best of his talents in midfield.

His lacklustre display should now open the door for Rodgers to move him aside in order to finally start Norwegian Odin Thiago Holm, who could offer a more well-rounded presence alongside Callum McGregor and Matt O'Riley.

Turnbull recorded a Sofascore rating of 6.7 against Rangers, which was the joint-lowest of any starter for Celtic, as he failed to create a single chance, and did not win a single aerial duel. He was also unable to find the target with any of his three attempted long passes and completed 77% of his passes in total, as per Sofascore.

His lack of physicality has been a common theme throughout the season so far as the Scotland international has lost 64% of his battles across four Premiership starts. The former Motherwell star has been dominated by opposition players in the air this term in spite of standing at 6 foot 1 with an aerial duel success rate of just 20%.

Turnbull has scored two goals in his four league appearances for the Scottish giants but they both came against Ross County on the opening day of the campaign, with one coming from the penalty spot.

Alongside this poor Old Firm showing, the 24-year-old also left a lot to be desired in the 3-1 win over Aberdeen. He recorded a Sofascore rating of 6.6 and lost six of his seven duels whilst failing to make a single tackle, interception, clearance, or block.

These statistics show that the creative midfielder lacks the physical attributes to consistently deliver impressive performances in midfield as he struggles when the game requires him to be robust and reliable for the team out of possession whilst also offering quality on the ball.

Who could replace David Turnbull at Celtic?

Rodgers must finally unleash Holm after the international break as the summer signing from Valerenga has the potential to be a classy operator in midfield.

He was once described as a "huge talent" and a "baller" by renowned scout Jacek Kulig but he is yet to have been given the opportunity to showcase his ability over a significant number of minutes at Parkhead.

Holm has made just three substitute appearances for the Hoops in the Premiership so far this season but has shown glimpses of what he can offer in those cameos.

In Sunday's win over the Light Blues, the talented youngster caught the eye in just 24 minutes on the pitch as he completed nine of his ten passes and made one tackle, which was a crucial one on Todd Cantwell to stop what looked to be a very promising attack for the home side.

As per Sofascore, the 20-year-old has won 75% of his aerial duels and 67% of his ground battles for Celtic this term, winning as many as eight duels in only 57 minutes of action.

This is not out of character for the young midfielder as he showed off his physical attributes during the 2022 Eliteserien campaign with his former club. Holm won 60% of his contests, which included 62% of his battles in the air, across 22 league outings for Valerenga, which shows that he is no pushover in midfield.

These numbers indicate that the summer signing would be far more combative than Turnbull in midfield and would not be a liability for Rodgers out of possession, something the Scottish midfielder has been so far this season.

Holm is also able to offer quality on the ball, completing 1.1 dribbles per game with a sublime success rate of 83% and completing 88% of his attempted passes during the 2022 season in his home country.

On the other hand, Turnbull has failed to complete a single dribble and has found a teammate with 84% of his passes so far during the campaign Premiership campaign for the Hoops.

This means that the 5 foot 9 star could offer more to Celtic in transition with his knack for beating defenders with a dribble to advance his team up the pitch and to bypass the opposition's press, which can subsequently open up more space for the attacking players to work with in the final third.

Therefore, Holm could improve the team a great deal by slotting into midfield alongside O'Riley and McGregor due to his robust and classy nature in and out of possession.

This could leave the Scotland international as an impact substitute to come on when Celtic are in need of a creative spark, rather than relying on him to be able to compete with the physicality of a 90-minute match.

The Hoops face Dundee at Parkhead in the Premiership on the other side of the international break and Rodgers should finally unleash the 20-year-old metronome from the start in order to give him an opportunity to showcase his talent over the course of a full game, rather than restricting him to cameos off the bench.

If he can translate his early showings in a Celtic shirt to complete performances then he could be an excellent, physically imposing, player for the head coach.