Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has hinted that he will make some changes to his starting XI against Livingston on Sunday [Rangers.co.uk].
The Gers put in a massive shift in the Europa League against FC Porto on Thursday evening, emerging 2-0 winners under the Ibrox lights.
His pre-Livi comments suggest that he will likely stick with the same back four.
Yet, the quick turnaround dictates that different personnel will come in further up the pitch.
Rangers boss should recall Aribo at Livingston
Central midfield is an extremely strong area for the Gers at the minute, with Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Glen Kamara all excellent against the Portuguese giants, particularly in the second half.
This next game will have a different dynamic, though, with Gary Holt’s side possessing less technical quality and attacking threat from the middle.
The opposition won’t be afraid to sit in at times, meaning that Gerrard’s side will need to force the pace and Joe Aribo offers more creativity and better end product than Kamara.
For these sorts of games, the presence of Davis and Jack gives the third midfielder the kind of license to get forward that the ex-Charlton man can thrive on.
In his most recent start, away at Ross County, Aribo’s dribbling and subtlety around the area saw him heavily involved in three of the four goals.
There’s no doubt he still has aspects of his game to work on, but he’s got four goals and three assists so far in Light Blue [Transfermarkt], while Kamara has a solitary strike and no assists this campaign [Transfermarkt].
23-year-old Aribo has only made substitute appearances in the last two games, but let’s not forget he scored for the Super Eagles against a star-studded Brazil last month and undoubtedly possesses the quality to wreak havoc at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
