Celtic have Dundee Utd to take care of tomorrow and must ensure that the three points are on the board ahead of the trip to Ibrox on Saturday. Many supporters are talking about the team that Neil Lennon should play and the tactics he should deploy to get the win Celtic need on 2 January.
It’s worth noting that the away team has had the upper hand in these Glasgow Derby fixtures this season and last – although only 3 games have been played the away side won on each occasion. Celtic will be hoping that sequence reaches four in the first match of the new year. And given the lack of supporters at games, Ibrox will not be as intimidating a ground as some Celtic players have found it to be in the past. Just like theRangers players were able to benefit from an empty Paradise in their 2-0 win in October, Celtic should be looking to do the same this time around.
Strangely while Celtic have struggled at home without the supporters there, theRangers have been pretty much perfect as far as league results go, although the volume of penalties they’ve picked up has to be factored into any calculations, as indeed does the reluctance of referees like Willie Collum at the weekend to award ‘stonewallers’ against them.
How should Celtic play this one? Over on their FF site there is a poll asking would a draw be a good result and there is a consensus that they’d be happy enough with that outcome. Celtic need the win more but throwing the kitchen sink at them is maybe what they’ll expect and seek to benefit from. Their goals come from set pieces and counter attacking at pace or via long diagonals into the channels and if Celtic go with the indisciplined Frimpong and Laxalt bombing forward, often at the same time, then they’ll exploit those gaps to the fullest.
And the Celtic goalkeeper predicament will not have gone unnoticed by Steven Gerrard and his coaches. Any of the three goalkeeping choices that Neil Lennon has will be regarded as as another weakness.
All things being equal Lennon should stick with Connor Hazard.
For the back four the two attack-minded full-backs should sit this one out and instead Kris Ajer and Greg Taylor should get the nod. Christopher Jullien missed the game at Hamilton but should be fine for tomorrow’s match against Dundee Utd. He will start at Ibrox if fit and alongside him the choice is Shane Duffy or Nir Bitton and I’d go with the Israeli. Bitton was outstanding in Celtic’s 2-0 win at Ibrox in early September 2019 and has plenty of experience in playing against theRangers. His distribution is also better than Duffy’s so I’d play him.
Neil Lennon is playing a diamond midfield and the two strikers – Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths, so it’s how he sets the diamond up that is interesting. The big question is does he play Scott Brown or Ismaila Soro? Brown was the Man of the Match in the Scottish Cup Final win over Hearts but has had to sit out the next few games due to a groin injury picked up in the final. However Neil Lennon will be looking to start him at Ibrox but surely he can’t drop Soro who has really looked the part.
Celtic have struggled to win the midfield battle against theRangers since that win on our last visit to Ibrox and it has to be noted in a few games prior to that 2-0 victory. Perhaps the clever thing to do is not to choose between Brown and Soro but to play them both.
Brown to sit with Soro to his right and Callum McGregor to the left and David Turnbull just behind the front two of Griffiths and Edouard.
The team that I’d suggest Neil Lennon plays at Ibrox would be this one:
Hazard
Ajer, Jullien, Bitton, Taylor
Soro, Brown, McGregor
Turnbull
Griffiths, Edouard.
Both strikers have a good scoring record at Ibrox.
Ryan Christie is guilty of conceding silly fouls and also losing possession through careless passes. He’s an impact player who can come off the bench if and when he’s needed. A slightly more cautious approach will mean we are NOT playing into their hands and this side can allow Celtic to win the midfield battle. Our defence as not been great this season but no-one has really tested theirs and we all know that they are hardly world beaters.
