The two Celtic strikers have bagged nine league goals between them already this season.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers has suggested that the one problem that Celtic face trying to get both Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths in the same team is that there would need to be a tactical reshuffle behind them, the Daily Record reports.
Rodgers has almost exclusively just picked one of the pair since he arrived at Parkhead. But with both hinting that they are in fine form – they have scored 21 goals between them in all competitions this season – some Hoops fans would be forgiven for hoping that the Northern Irishman takes a gamble and sees how they get on playing alongside each other.
Celtic’s Moussa Dembele
While Rodgers has tended to prefer playing one up top for the majority of his managerial career, he, of course, has managed to fit two star strikers into the same line-up to devastating effect before, as Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez nearly inspired Liverpool to the Premier League title.
However, Rodgers has dampened any hopes of replicating a similar system with the Scottish Premiership champions by outlining the difficultly of fitting them both into the same team.
“With Moussa and Leigh, it’s different to Sturridge and Suarez. It’s not so much about them, it’s what is behind them,” he said, as reported by the Record.
Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez
“You have to be able to function behind them and have certain physical qualities.
“If you play two up, then it’s a diamond and you need real mobility.
“Leigh isn’t really a wide player, he’s a central striker and so is Moussa. So it’s about how you shape the team up behind that.”
In fairness to Rodgers, apart from recent disappointment in the Champions League, his tenure has been a success so far.
Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths
They are already clear at the top of the league, have a League Cup semi-final to play today and still have a chance of remaining in Europe beyond the winter, so it is hardly a surprise that he is cautious about the idea of changing a system that is clearly working.
One problem that may arise in future however, concerns the happiness of the two strikers. With Dembele in such good form currently, Griffiths – who was sensational last season – has had fewer opportunities.
And if that situation was to continue – or completely change with the Scotland forward returning to the starting line-up – then Rodgers’ greater challenge may be trying to maintain the harmony within the squad.
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