Kris Commons is tipping the most lethal striker in Scotland to start the Glasgow derby- Giorgos Giakoumakis.
The Greek striker has scored 11 goals since the turn of the year with his hat-trick against Ross County on Saturday his second in successive home matches.
During the first half of the season there were concerns over whether Giakoumakis was going to join the Striker Hall of Shame at Celtic that features the likes of Mo Bangura, Nadir Ciftci, Vakoun Bayo and Patryk Klimala who all promised plenty but delivered little before slipping away.
At Celtic Commons played alongside Tony Stokes and Gary Hooper but on recent form he believes that the former VVV Venlo striker has the mentality to cope with the demands of the April fixture list which could include three Glasgow derbies.
Kyogo Furuhashi is close to full fitness but Ange Postecoglou can go confidently to Ibrox with Giakoumakis as his first choice striker. Picking up on his Daily Mail column, the Daily Record reports Commons saying:
Giakoumakis will almost certainly lead the line at Ibrox. Right now, he is the most lethal striker in the country.
He is a deadly one-touch finisher and, in that particular area, Celtic fans are already drawing comparisons with Henrik Larsson. Giakoumakis clearly isn’t shy. You don’t take the No 7 jersey at a club like Celtic without the weight of expectation that comes with it. It’s the iconic jersey worn by Larsson, Kenny Dalglish and Jinky Johnstone.
Giakoumakis isn’t in the same bracket at those three legends but he’s a confident boy who is doing the business for Celtic right now. If he can provide the firepower to win a league title, fans will idolise him.
I played with a couple of really gifted, natural finishers in Gary Hooper and Leigh Griffiths. Giakoumakis is as good as either of them in front of goal but he’s a different sort of player. He’s more physical than either Hooper or Griffiths. He’s built like an absolute tank and clearly loves getting stuck into defenders.
Giakoumakis confidently stated a few weeks ago that Celtic would win the title and that they have the best squad in the league.
If you’re going to make bold statements like that then you need to be backing it up on the pitch and he’s certainly doing that right now.
Giakoumakis is now on international duty with Celtic fans watching closely that he returns fully fit for a trip to Ibrox on April 3.
GG will be one of the first players booked against the Newco.
His old fashioned centre forward style of bustling up defenders will need to be quashed quickly by the friendly MiB.
There certainly won’t be any phantom penalties for him in the box….