Three again outshines four at the back

Celtic were at their scintillating best as they hit St Johnstone with a treble of goals in the opening 26 minutes; the home team were fortunate the score was as low as three when Leigh Griffiths volleyed Greg Taylor’s cross into the net.

The link-play between Odsonne Edouard and Griffiths, as well as the crossing from Taylor and James Forrest set the tone.  The silky pitch encouraged Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham to display their range of passing, but for me, the formation is the most consistent predictor of Celtic’s performance.  When we play three at the back we play better than when we have a back four.

On Saturday we play on the bumpiest acre of Lanarkshire, so Neil has my sympathies in having to decide how to approach that game, but I would make last night’s formation the default from now on.