Pundit Davie Provan has told The Scottish Sun that he thinks Rangers have a ‘stronger squad’ than Celtic based on their clash earlier this month.
Provan noted that Steven Gerrard’s Rangers line-up at Parkhead last weekend didn’t even contain Ryan Jack, Joe Aribo or Ianis Hagi, but Rangers controlled the midfield anyway.
Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Scott Arfield were all excellent as Rangers won 2-0, and new signing Bongani Zungu wasn’t even involved either.
Provan believes Lennon’s side were ‘so passive’ against an impressive Rangers side, and can’t understand why Neil Lennon stuck with the 3-5-2 system against AC Milan after seeing it flop against Rangers.
“On the evidence of last Saturday, Rangers have put together a stronger squad,” said Provan. “Remember, Gerrard started without Ryan Jack, Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi and still controlled the game from midfield. Even allowing for missing players, I’ve never seen a Lennon team look so passive. And if he admitted he got his shape wrong against Rangers, why go same again against Milan?” he added.
Provan’s mood likely hasn’t improved after seeing Celtic draw 3-3 against Aberdeen on Sunday, with a late Lewis Ferguson penalty giving the Dons a point.
Rangers then went and beat Livingston 2-0 at Ibrox, meaning they now hold a six-point lead over Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Gerrard’s options were on show again as Aribo came into the side and scored, whilst he was able to rest Kamara and Arfield without losing control of the midfield.
One caveat is that Celtic were missing some players for the game against Rangers, but Provan clearly believes that the likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham should have been better against Rangers.
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