Presenter Rob Maclean believes that Giorgos Giakoumakis could be key for Celtic in tonight’s Europa Conference League clash after he didn’t start in the first leg at Celtic Park.
Celtic were on the receiving end of a 3-1 loss at home against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt last Thursday and will be keen to bounce back tonight in the second leg.
Although Celtic did still name a strong side in the first leg, Giakoumakis only came off the bench in the 59th minute and Rob Maclean has said that he feels the Greek could be the difference from the off tonight.
Speaking on Go Radio, Maclean said: “I think Giakoumakis could be a big plus for Celtic this Thursday. Not just because he’s bang on form and he scored a hat-trick, and he looks like the player they wanted when they signed him, but also, he didn’t feature much in that game, so he’s almost something new to throw at the Norwegians on Thursday.”
TIF Thoughts on Maclean’s comments on Go Radio…
The Greek winger scored a hat-trick at the weekend against Dundee United, so has hit form at the right time ahead of tonight’s important European match.
With the form that the striker hit last weekend, this could kickstart a good spell for him as he has somewhat failed to hit the ground running in Scotland since signing, as prior to Sunday’s game, he had scored just two league goals.
However, Celtic may not be able to rely on Giakoumakis to get them out of trouble tonight, as he has been given five ratings below a 6.7 in his previous five games from SofaScore.
Although Giakoumakis could well make a difference, the main issue from last week’s defeat, as per Sky Sports, was deemed to be in the middle of the park, where Celtic were dominated from the first minute after nothing was coming off for the attacking midfielders and they looked too attacking.