Celtic pundit Kevin Graham has recently made a claim about Diego Laxalt and whether Neil Lennon would want the Uruguayan to start in the upcoming Old Firm derby.
Graham was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed many issues involving the Bhoys. One topic of discussion was Laxalt’s potential involvement in the Old Firm derby at the weekend. Graham believes that while Laxalt is fit for the game, Neil Lennon might still prefer to play Greg Taylor.
Laxalt arrived at Celtic on loan from Milan in the summer transfer window. The former Genoa man was on loan at Torino in the first half of the 2019/20 season and returned to the Rossoneri for the second half of the previous campaign (as per Transfermarkt).
Should Laxalt start in the Old Firm?
Yes
No
Graham discussed the possibility of Laxalt’s involvement in the Old Firm derby and he doesn’t see Lennon starting the Uruguayan.
He said: “He has been on the bench for Milan since the start of the season, so you’ve got to presume that he is fit. Since Lennon’s returned, since the coaching staff [returned] as well, they don’t seem to take many risks. Gone are the days that Martin O’Neill would throw in people for a start when they hadn’t trained fully with their teammates.
“I just can’t see Lennon taking the risk with Laxalt because I reckon it will be quite hard on Greg Taylor, truthfully, who’s had two decent performances [in the] last two times out – especially the game against Hibs.”
TIF Thoughts…
Laxalt indeed was on the bench for Stefano Pioli’s men in every single game for the Rossoneri this season and that might point to the fact that he is fit to feature for Celtic, although he didn’t feature in any of those games.
Having said that, Taylor has played against Rangers 15 times in his career so far and he clearly has the experience of playing against them. Laxalt is yet to play a single game in the Scottish Premiership and it will also be his first appearance of the season (as per Transfermarkt).
So it is understandable why playing Laxalt in the Old Firm will be a risk for Celtic and perhaps, it might be better to play Taylor against the Gers.