With not long left now before the all-important Glasgow derby, between Celtic and Rangers, it is clear to see that manager Neil Lennon and his backroom staff have a huge decision to make going into the game.
That decision is who he starts in the number nine position.
At the moment, we have three strikers who should definitely be ready for the game, whereas another one who is still a doubt.
Those who are available are Patryk Klimala, Leigh Griffiths and Albian Ajeti. The duo, of Klimala and Griffiths, scored two massive late goals, against St Johnstone, so it would be fair to say that they are in with a shout for a start in this match. The latter of the three, Ajeti, was a doubt beforehand but today it was confirmed by Neil Lennon that he will be fit enough to play, which is a huge plus for the Northern Irishman.
The one player who is currently a doubt is Odsonne Edouard. Normally, the Frenchman would be one of the first names on the team-sheet for Neil Lennon’s side, no matter how good or poor his form is. That doesn’t look as likely this time. The 22-year old has only just made his return to the country today and it is still undecided whether he will be fit enough to feature.
So there is still a chance that Edouard can feature. How likely that is though that it would be from the start. He has spent 10 days stuck in a hotel room, with little to no proper training or equipment to do so. It would be right to think at this current time, if he does make it, that will be from the substitutes bench.
Who does Lennon go with then?
This really is a crucial decision for Lennon to make in such a huge match, early on in the season but I believe there may be a small curveball in there that he loves to add in these sort of games.
I think Ajeti is now a stick-on to start. Since signing, he has shown exactly what he can do in actually quite limited game time but is already top scorer for the hoops in the league.
For me, he is the perfect striker to play with a partner, whether that be Edouard, Klimala or Griffiths. He does all the right things and is such a clever player who knows exactly what position to be in at the correct time.
The other striker though, is where the small curveball comes in. I don’t think it will actually be any of the three mentioned previously, I think he goes with Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Now, I know I described it as a curveball, which in a way it is with the amount of attacking players we have available but at the same time it probably wouldn’t come as much of a shock to a lot of supporters.
He previously started the strike force of Ajeti and Elyounoussi in the 3-0 win over Hibs a couple of weeks ago and both of these players actually got a goal in the game. Its also not as if both aren’t familiar with each other, having spent a big spell of their careers at Basel together creating a dynamic partnership.
Elyounoussi also does allow us to have that extra body in midfield that could be crucial in that battle tomorrow. The Norweigan can do both jobs of an attacker and making up those numbers in the middle of the park that could be the key to getting a result in the game.
Even if he does go with these two, he will have the options from the bench of Klimala, Griffiths or possibly Edouard if he wants to make any changes and of course, he can do that with his five substitutions.
It would be the correct one in my opinion. As much as the two who scored last week have put in, I just think they will be better options coming off the bench against a more tired defence with the game stretched and it will probably be highly unlikely that Eddy makes it from the start. Moi is an absolute workhorse in there, so I do not doubt that he will tire that defence, in preparation for them to come on.
Come Saturday at 12:30 PM, it will certainly be interesting to see who Lennon and his staff have chosen to go with as the front two. In my opinion, though, it should be Albian Ajeti and Mohamed Elyounoussi.
