Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon is set to come into the team for tonight’s Betfred Cup clash at home to Partick Thistle.
The club’s official website celticfc.net confirmed that the 36-year-old will be given the nod to start in goal for the visit of the Championship side.
As reported by celticfc.net, Hoops manager Neil Lennon will give opportunities to players who have had little or no game time recently and said that it would “be remiss of” him not to hand the veteran goalkeeper a chance to play, adding that “it’s important that he does get games”.
Gordon has found his game time quite restricted this season with Scott Bain beginning the season as first choice and Fraser Forster’s loan arrival from Southampton adding further competition for the goalkeeping position.
The ex-Sunderland ‘keeper has still made four appearances in 2019/20, though, and has had a good record in those matches, all of which have ended in victory for Celtic. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
He kept clean sheets in the Champions League qualifying win away to Nomme Kalju and in the home leg of the Europa League play-off against AIK (50% of games) and he has conceded just two goals across his four appearances, an average of 0.5 per game. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
He has looked solid whenever called upon, with The Scottish Sun‘s Robert Grieve saying after the 4-1 win away to AIK that “he can again hold his head high with a typically solid performance”. Also in The Scottish Sun, David Friel noted in the home leg of that play-off that Gordon’s “composure started [the] move for Celtic’s opener” in their 2-0 win.
Gordon’s 2019/20 record is equal to that of Forster, who in the same number of appearances this season has conceded the same number of goals and kept two clean sheets out of a possible four. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
Statistically, both ‘keepers have had a better record than Bain in the early weeks of the season. The 27-year-old has made seven appearances in 2019/20 but conceded nine goals (1.29 per game), four of which came in the Champions League qualifying defeat to CFR Cluj, and has kept only two clean sheets (28.6% of appearances). [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
Also, he has been supplanted by Forster as Lennon’s first choice between the sticks – Bain has not played since the defeat to CFR Cluj, while Forster’s start against Kilmarnock last weekend was his fifth in the last month.
While Gordon has been in and out of the team at Celtic in recent weeks, a strong performance against Partick Thistle tonight could enable him to put pressure on Forster for the number one slot and push Bain further down the pecking order.
Based on the goalkeepers’ respective statistics, he deserves as much of a chance in the team as Forster and, with this being the sixth time already this season that Celtic have had to play just three days after their previous game, it’s easy to see why Lennon plans to freshen up the side for tonight, starting with his goalkeeper.
Celtic fans, do you think Gordon should start against Partick Thistle tonight? Does he deserve more of a chance in the team overall? Let us know your views by commenting below!
