The second international break of the season is drawing to a close and that means one thing – Celtic are back soon. On Saturday, Neil Lennon’s men aim to return back to the top of the Premiership when they host newly promoted Ross County.
That match is the first of seven the Hoops will face before the next international break, in the middle of November. With success in three different competitions at stake over the next month, let’s look at what Lennon’s side must aim to achieve before Scotland’s next match.
Objective one – Get back on top
European and cup success would be lovely this season but the truth is that the campaign will be defined by how we get on in the league. At the moment we’re failing. Dropped points in our two games prior to the break mean that we are off the top, and that can’t be tolerated.
Three of our next four games are at Celtic Park. All three – against Ross County, St. Mirren and Motherwell – are winnable while there is also a testing trip to Aberdeen. If we can take maximum points there is a good chance that we’ll be back at the Premiership’s summit. And that’s the most important thing after all.
Objective two – Beat Lazio
Our Europa League group stage campaign will probably be defined by the double header we face against Lazio. The Italian giants arrive in Glasgow on October 24th while we travel to Rome a fortnight later.
Our terrific start in Group E means that winning one of those two will put us in second place at the very least going into our final two matches. It goes without saying but our best chance of success against Simone Inzaghi’s men is in Glasgow. Win that and we really are laughing.
Objective three – Get to the Betfred Cup final
Our fifth game of the seven match run is at Hampden against Hibernian. If we win that we will be back at the National Stadium a month later to go for our tenth domestic trophy in-a-row.
Paul Heckingbottom’s men have caused us bother already this season so it’s no gimme. But what an opportunity for the players to write yet more history.
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