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Cup Hoopla For Morton Visit

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic News' started by Taz, Jan 19, 2023.

By Taz on Jan 19, 2023 at 8:07 PM
  1. Taz Blind Justice Gold Member News Writer

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    Cup Hoopla For Morton Visit
    ~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~

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    Kyogo Furuhashi's deft lob was one of two goals for the Japanese striker against St Mirren

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    Celtic Park, Glasgow
    Saturday, 21 January 2023
    12.15 GMT

    Greenock Morton are the next challenge facing the Hoops when the Championship side come to visit Parkhead this weekend, as attention turns to the Scottish Cup.

    The Bhoys will be clear favourites going into this game given the relative league position and form of the two sides and on paper it should all be relatively straight forward affair.

    In a one-off Cup game, however, anything can happen.

    And while the Hoops have successfully overcome Morton in the past couple of meetings in the Scottish Cup, most recently in 2016 & 2018, there is always that risk in any Cup game.

    Indeed, one needs only glance back to 2013 when a stunned Paradise bore witness to Neil Lennon's side being knocked out of the League Cup by Morton.

    If Ange's side are to get their hands on the one piece of domestic silverware that elluded them last season, then no doubt the Australian boss will ensure that his team are fully prepared, ready and not allowing for any thoughts of being able to take it easy ahead of this game.


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    March 2018: Moussa Dembele opens the scoring in the 3-0 win the last time these sides met

    As for the visitors, there is no escaping the fact that they've had a really tough time recently, which has not been helped by being able to only play away games over the past few months, with their last few home fixtures all having to be postponed due to a frozen pitch at Cappielow Park.

    In fact the last game that Morton played at home was the 2-1 win over Queen of the South in the previous round of the Scottish Cup - which was back in November.

    It's probably no surprise therefore, that this coincided with a significant dip in form for Saturday's visitors, who were riding high and sitting just 1 point behind league leaders, Ayr United at that time, to currently finding themselves stalled in midtable in addition to being eliminated from the Challenge Cup also.

    Most recently, Morton's away day troubles saw them defeated by Hamilton - currently the bottom team in that Division - which was the Accies first win in the Championship since mid-October.

    To say the least, the visitors will have their work cut out for them if they are to pull of another remarkable Cup upset against the Hoops, but in football stranger things have happened.

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    Liel Abada netted his 10th goal of the season on Wednesday evening against St Mirren

    By the Numbers

    • Celtic are looking to keep this season's perfect domestic home record in tact, having won all 11 league matches and scored at least twice in each game that has been played at Paradise.
    • In fact, the Hoops have been undefeated domestically at home since January 2021.
    • The Celts have kept 4 clean sheets in the last 5 games. As it happens, the last time Morton prevented an opposition from scoring was at the end of October.
    • Robbie Muirhead has 9 goals and 3 assists across 24 appearances for Morton this season, including 2 goals in the Scottish Cup.
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    The Bhoys were in fine form in the 4-0 win over St Mirren in midweek

    Team News

    Ange Postecoglou could use this occasion to rotate some players in the squad, giving much needed and valued game time to some of the fringe players as well as being able to rest some some others.

    The Bhoys will again be without Greg Taylor, while Cameron Carter-Vickers is likely to be sit the game out once again after pulling up sore following the League Cup Semi-Final win over Killie.

    The manager revealed, however, that Alexandro Bernabei is available for this weekend, as is Gorgios Giakoumakis, who missed out in midweek with minor knock.​

    As for Doug Imrie's side, they will be without skipper Grant Gillespie, who misses out through suspension, after the midfielder was booked twice last weekend. However, the visitors will likely feature former Celt, Efe Ambrose, who has been a virtual ever present in the heart of the 'Ton's defence this season.​

    Referee: Kevin Clancy

    This will be the 39 year old's 3rd time officiating the Hoops this season, following the 2-0 win over Hearts in August and the 4-1 win v St Johnstone on Christmas Eve. It will also be the first time Clancy will be taking charge of a Scottish Cup game involving Celtic since the Final against Motherwell in 2018.

    Celtic's Overall Record
    M: 48 W: 35 D: 8 L: 5

    VAR: Craig Napier


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    [​IMG] ~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~ [​IMG]

    Overall
    P: 130 W: 90 D: 26 L: 14

    Last 5 Meetings
    W W L W W

    [​IMG] ~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ [​IMG]

    Overall
    W W W D W ~ L L D D D

     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2023