On Wednesday Rangers managed to beat Braga to advance to the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. Rangers have drawn Bayer Leverkusen in the next round.
Steven Gerrard had to make a couple of slight adjustments from his first leg lineup, bringing in Florian Kamberi for the suspended Alfredo Morelos. However, one of the changes Gerrard made out of choice was to replace Nikola Katic, who started the first leg, for George Edmundson.
Katic was dropped after a horrific individual performance against St. Johnstone between the two legs. Kris Boyd called it the worst performance he has ever seen from a Rangers centre-half.
Who deserves to start with Connor Goldson?
Edmundson
Helander
Katic
Edmundson was brought in for the trip to Portugal and earned himself an impressive 7.35/10 rating from WhoScored, helping lead his side to a clean sheet.
After the match Edmundson tweeted out to fans, claiming that he joined Rangers to experience matches like the one in Braga. They praised his performance, with one suggesting that the starting spot is his to lose.
Top performance big man!
— Kevin Edward Grant Wakeham (@TheReaperKW) February 27, 2020
Big George was excellent yesterday, Deserves to stay in the team based on his performances when picked this season.
— MoSangTheSash (@JohnGra44061616) February 27, 2020
Your a tank big man well done for last night again and thanks for donating your top to help a great cause George some man #thefridge
— True Blues Loyal®?™? (@TrueBluesLoyal) February 27, 2020
Some fans called him a fridge in reference to his extreme physical presence on the field. Edmundson won three aerial duels during the match.
Some man, fridge.
Dynamite performance
— Alfredco Morelos (@Pena_Cartel) February 27, 2020
Well done big fridge.
— Graham Hendry (@TremendoHendo72) February 27, 2020
— Curtis (@1872Curtis) February 27, 2020
Haters will say its edited pic.twitter.com/KtmJU18Ofg
— jack (@Jackmchardy) February 27, 2020
What do we think?
Connor Goldson has cemented himself as Gerrard’s first-choice centre-back, earning 47 appearances this season. This makes him Gerrard’s most capped player this season.
However, perhaps there is an opportunity for Edmundson, Gerrard’s fourth most-capped centre-back, to go on a run of starts. Edmundson has featured 11 times for Gerrard this season, behind Filip Helander with 17 appearances, and Katic with 28.