Hoops Hope to Do 'Well at Home
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Daizen Maeda has 4 goals and 5 assists in 11 appearances against Motherwell


Celtic Park, Glasgow
Sunday, 5 October 2025
15.00 GMT

Celtic return to the bread and butter of Premiership this weekend, when they take on 4th placed Motherwell, ahead of the International break.

The Bhoys will need to put the disappointment of the 2-0 Europa League loss to S.C. Braga on Thursday - the Bhoys' first taste of defeat this campaign - behind them.

Although this latest result only served to continue the questions concerning Celtic's continued form and struggles to create chances and scoring. And while previous sloppy errors at the back had not proven too costly, they most certainly did on Thursday

The Hoops have an outstanding record against Motherwell; indeed, it was 2015 the last time that the Steelmen got the better of this matchup, while Neil Lennon was the last Celtic manager to lose at Fir Park - and that was during his first stint in charge in 2013!

​

Brendan Rodgers has to show more flexibility from his preferred tactics and formation​

As for the Steelmen, they will be pretty content with how their season has started. They are undefeated so far in the Premiership in addition to progressing to next month's League Cup Semi-Final to look forward to.

And while they have remained unbeaten in the League, there was a sense that despite dominating games, but not quite able to secure the wins their performances perhaps deserved and having to settle for a share of the spoils.

This appeared to be once again the case last weekend, until two goals, both scored in stoppage time, secured the three points against Aberdeen.

Clearly the philosophy of manager Jens Berthel Askou has been adopted by the players and has borne fruit, and now with their first Premiership win of the campaign under their belts, will be looking to build on that.​

The Lanarkshire club surely will know that while they are coming into this game with a good degree of confidence against a Celtic team that continue to have a few early season wobbles, that there could be a genuine opportunity here to get something from this game, which has not always been the case, especially considering the record between these sides in recent years.

Celtic can expect another visitor to Parkhead, high on confidence, determination and no doubt have studied the way other sides have looked to contend with, and the Hoops can take nothing for granted coming into this game, recent history or not. All that matters is getting a win this weekend, if nothing else, to not have another long International window to be left to dwell upon.​

Cameron Carter-Vickers in action against Motherwell last season



By the Numbers​

• The Hoops have been undefeated in the past 31 meetings (W26 D5) against Motherwell since December 2015.

• Celtic have scored just 4 first half goals in 12 games across all competitions this season - and just 1 of those were in the League.

• The Bhoys have also not scored in 3 of their last 4 home games.

• Celtic do have the best defensive record in the League, having conceded just once.

• Motherwell are undefeated so far this season across both League Cup and League games (W6 D6 L0) - although only one of those wins has been in the League.

• The visitors are one of 6 teams who have scored more goals than Celtic (8) in the Premiership so far this season (Hearts, 15, United 11, Hibs 10, Killie, Livi & Motherwell 9).

Callum McGregor in the 2018 Scottish Cup Final. He has only lost once to 32 career games v M'well

Team News

Alistair Johnston (hamstring) and Jota (knee) remain sidelined for this match, and while Auston Trusty was included in the matchday squad (unused sub) against Braga, it appears there is a fresh injury concern regarding Kieran Tierney, that may make him a doubt for this match.

Brendan Rodgers for the first time in a long while, introduced a little adjustment to the team formation during the second half against Braga, and it will be interesting to see if that is again seen, will surely be something to keep an eye out for.

As for the Steelmen, there continues to be doubts concerning Tom Sparrow's fitness as he works to return from a knock, although he has returned to training, as has Callum Slattery, Callum Hendry and Elijah Just, although it remains to be seen if any of them will be considered fit enough to take part this weekend.

However, the visitors will be without long term injured trio of Filip Stuparevic (cruciate), Sam Nicholson (knee) and Zach Robinson (achilles).



Referee: Calum Scott

This will be the third time that Scott will have officiated a match involving Celtic, amd all three have ended up with the Bhoys scoring 5 goals - the most recent of which was in last season's Scottish Cup Semi-Final win against St Johnstone.

Celtic's 0verall Record
M3 W3 D0 L0

VAR: Gavin Duncan

Weather

In the aftermath of Storm Amy, Glasgow on Sunday can expect overcast conditions with moderate winds & approx 13°C at kick-off.



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 305 W: 186 D: 68 L: 51​

Last 5 Meetings
W W W D W

~~~~ 2025/26 Form ~~~~ ​

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

SPFL
D W D W W ~ W D D D D​