Neil Lennon’s Celtic smash past 80-goal mark vs Livingston

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There’s one stat that reads particularly well for Neil Lennon, and he even topples Brendan Rodgers’ invincibles with it.

The Hoops managed to hammer Livingston 4-0 to secure their eighth consecutive win yesterday. However, what may have gone unnoticed by many is that Lenny’s Celts rocketed past the 80-goal mark. In total, Celtic now have 81 for the season in all competitions (Soccerbase).

At face value, it’s a tremendous number. But if you dig a little deeper into previous years, you’ll find out just how incredible it actually is.

Last season, for example, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic had only managed to score 55 goals by this same stage. Yet, perhaps the measuring stick for this Celtic side should be the invincibles campaign.

A sensational goal return

Rodgers’ class of 2016/17 went through the whole domestic season without losing a game, and won the treble because of it. So how many goals had they scored by this point during the 2017 season? Incredibly, they only managed 62 by this same stage. That was after 28 games in all competitions – the same stage we’re currently at (Wikipedia).

Therefore, as things stand, Lennon’s Celtic have a tremendous 19 goals more than the invincibles managed by this stage. That also suggests that this team Lenny has built may very well be more dangerous than the one Rodgers formed.

After all, how many chances have we actually missed this season? In our last three domestic games alone, Celtic have fired in a total of 60 shots on goal. An average of 20-per-game. That’s absolutely incredible domination from Lennon’s side.

It’s also scary to think that this has all been done, largely, with one striker. Both Vakoun Issouf Bayo and Leigh Griffiths have struggled with injuries this season. So it’s fair to say that Odsonne Edouard has been the only consistently available forward.

The numbers this season could be frightening. The invincibles ended their campaign having scored 151 goals in their 59-game season. If Lennon’s side continue at the rate they’re going, you would strongly fancy them to blitz that record too.

It’s yet another positive stat for Lenny to take comfort in. He’s done a wonderful job since the beginning of the season, and now nobody can doubt what he’s brought to the Parkhead table this season.