Ciro Immobile’s status tonight certainly isn’t at the forefront of Neil Lennon’s concerns.
The Celtic boss is getting set to take on the Serie A outfit tonight in a crunch Europa League clash at Celtic Park. The winners of the contest will put themselves in a fine position in the group. For Celtic, it would put us in clear command at the half-way stage.
Meanwhile, one of the big talking points heading into tonight is the prospect of Immobile not featuring. Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed that he’ll be on the bench tonight. Instead, the duo of Joaquin Correa and Felipe Caicedo look set to start.
But Lennon isn’t seriously bothered about who Simone Inzaghi selects to lead his line. Speaking in the Herald, Lenny was quick to big up all of their options.
“He (Immobile) may or may not play. But they have got (Felipe) Caicedo as well who is an ex-Man City and Levante player.
“No matter who plays they will be good because they have got good strength in depth as well. (Sergej) Milinkovic-Savic is a top European player.
“They can come at you from different areas attacking wise. But I have seen plenty in ourselves to see we can cause them problems as well.”
Lazio have more than just Immobile in their ranks
This is exactly the response we all would’ve expected from Lennon. Whether he’s privately giving the news a little fist pump or not, he was never going to act overly-happy.
And he’s right not to. Whilst Immobile may be Lazio’s top scorer, they have plenty of other credible threats. Correa, for example, scored a crucial goal against Champions League side Atalanta at the weekend.
Milinkovic-Savic, meanwhile, has managed 33 goals for Lazio from a deep midfield position. He can’t be allowed time on the ball given the power he contains in his shooting ability.
Caicedo also has positive pedigree. He’s played for the likes of Malaga, Levante, Lokomotiv Moscow, and Basel to name a few. He clearly has something to offer, and will be another of Lazio’s main threats. He may only have one goal in seven appearances this season, but that means nothing heading into tonight.
It’s going to be a tricky test for both Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer to combat. They’re going to come up against different styles of front-men when Lazio come to town. Correa and Caicedo look like an idyllic combination to have. We’re going to learn a lot about our centre-backs tonight.
But as expected, Lenny isn’t exactly jumping for joy with the news of Immobile potentially being on the bench. We all know that in European football, nothing can be taken for granted.
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