Disrupting a leaky defence can make things worse

This month, Aberdeen (over 120 mins) and Newco have scored three against us.  Last month, Hearts and Livingston scored twice.  The most we conceded in any one game in February was one, but that happened on five out of six games played.  Only St Mirren didn’t score against us that month.

In 13 games since the start of February, only St Mirren (twice) and Livingston (once) have failed to score against Celtic.  Saturday’s three concessions draw the eye, but a trend was well established before then.

It is a general rule of thumb that the team who concede the fewest goals wins the Premiership.  There is plenty of time left for things to change, but on this measure, we are three goals over.

It is almost impossible to do anything constructive about this so late in the season.  All the motivations talks in the dressing room and practice defending cross balls isn’t going to move the dial much.

In fact, disrupting a defence, even one that is losing goals, can make things worse.  Across the city, Goldson was dropped at the weekend, signalling a lack of confidence in him.  Clement will hope neither Balogun nor Souttar give him cause to reconsider marking Goldson as a liability.