Celtic manager Neil Lennon has admitted that he has a concern regarding Celtic’s visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena tomorrow.
On our last two trips to West Lothian, Celtic have been frustrated. Under Brendan Rodgers back in November 2018, Gary Holt’s men proved a stubborn nut to crack as we could only get out of Livi with a point. It was a poor result at the time considering Livingston had just been promoted the season beforehand.
But even worse was to come back in October. Lennon’s unbeaten Hoops marched into the Tony Macaroni looking to bounce back from a 1-1 draw at Hibs. Instead, Livingston turned us over with another aggressive display that rattled Celtic. To this day, it’s probably still the worst result we’ve had this season on paper.
And speaking in the Daily Record ahead of tomorrow’s return to West Lothian, Lennon has admitted that there is indeed a “concern” about taking the trip down the M8.
“It’s not really about revenge or anything. It’s just the next game for us. Gary Holt and David Martindale are doing great stuff at Livingston. There’s a concern going there.
“We haven’t even scored against them the last couple of times so we are going to have to rectify that somehow. We’re going to have to roll up sleeves up, it’s going to be a battle.
“Their home form is terrific. They are a team that I admire, there’s no superstars in the team but they work really hard.”
Lack of creativity has been a huge problem vs Livingston
Celtic have had plenty of shots on goal in their trips to the Tony Macaroni, but finding genuine goalscoring opportunities has been a problem.
Back in the November 2018 game, Celtic managed 17 shots with six on target (BBC). Fast forward to the game earlier this season and it’s not much better. 14 shots with only four on target (BBC).
But Celtic, despite all of these efforts, haven’t managed to move the ball anywhere near quickly enough at the Tony Macaroni. Often when we’ve threatened to make something happen, Livi get two or three players around the player in possession before crowding them out.
When Celtic have tried to build using quick combination play, there’s always been someone in the way for Holt’s side. They have, in a sense, been unbreakable when we’ve visited there.
Of course, Livingston also came to Celtic Park last season and bagged another 0-0 draw. It’s not been an easy ride against Holt’s team, with only two wins managed against them since they returned to the Premiership.
There’s no denying West Lothian have caused us far too many problems over the last year-and-a-half. Not winning there is a monkey we could definitely do with getting off of our back.
What’s gone wrong on our previous visits to the Tony Macaroni Arena? Why have we failed to put Livingston away on three occasions. Give us your verdict in the discussion forum below.
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