Celts' Taste For Tayside Triumph

Celts' Taste For Tayside Triumph
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Tricky Trifecta: Kyogo, Jota & Abada all scored in Budapest on Thursday


Sunday, 7 November 2021
12.00 BST
Dens Park​

The Celtic road show next heads to Tayside this weekend, with the aim to getting back on track in the league ahead of the International break.

Returning to Scotland after a successful away trip on European duty, where the Bhoys secured a 3-2 victory over Hungarian champions, Ferencvaros, the hopes are high that the recent form away from Parkhead can continue, to make it five consecutive wins on the road.

This will be the last league outing until the visit of Aberdeen at the end of the month, and that is a long time to look at the league table if anything less than maximum points are taken from this weekend.

Ange Postecoglou's men swept the Dark Blues to the tune of 6-0 earlier in the season, and another comprehensive performance on Sunday will be just what the Celtic faithful will be hoping for, in order to stay in touch with the league leaders and go into the next phase of games after the break, high on confidence, full of determination and ready for the challenging period that lies ahead.


Kyogooaaal!!! Furuhashi struck a hatrick when the sides met in August

Dundee, currently sitting just above the automatic relegation spot, were humiliated in their last outing at home by Ross County to the tune of 5-0, but James McPake's side have shown considerable signs of improvement since the October International break, having picked up wins over Aberdeen and St Mirren, as well as holding the previously undefeated Hearts to a 1-1 draw at Tynecastle in that period.

The Bhoys very much hold the upper hand in this fixture, historically speaking, and even in recent times have won on each of their last six visits to Dens Park. Indeed, the last time the Hoops drew with the home side was when Ronny Deila's men were held to a 0-0 draw in April 2016 - and overall Celtic remain undefeated since 2001 - a record stretching back 33 league encounters.

Yet despite everything that has gone before, Callum McGregor, is all too aware the team cannot approach any match with any degree of complacency.

Indeed, the Hoops' skipper used the fresh example of last weekend's 0-0 draw with Livingston as motivation of this, said: “Credit to Livingston last weekend. They defended well, but it was often 10 or 11 behind the ball. It was a difficult game and it’s about learning, drawing teams out and getting them on the outside.​

"All the league games are vital in terms of trying to close the gap, but we'll take one more step and it's important that we continue that momentum.​

“Dundee will be a different game in terms of the style, but we have to learn from last week. We need to make sure when the moments come, we take maximum points.”

As such, Celtic, while not taking anything for granted, should feel confident that they have more than enough to pick up the valuable three league point on offer, and keep the feel good factor going ahead of the International break.


CalMac ensuring the Bhoys are heading in the right direction

Team News

Ange Postecoglou has a few selection headaches ahead of this weekend's match, with concerns lingering over the firness and availability of a number of players. Chief among these will be regarding Stephen Welsh and Nir Bitton, both of whom needed to be replaced during Thursday's win over Ferecvaros.

The manager revealed that Bitton should be ok however, as it appears it was simply cramp, but Welsh will face further fitness tests ahead of the match on Sunday before a determination will be made about his availability.

Elsewhere, Greg Taylor has put pen to paper with a 4 year extension to his current Celtic deal, as the fullback continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

Meanwhiile the trio of Tom Rogic, Carl Starfelt and Christopher Julien remain sidelined for this weekend, however reports are optimistic that all three should be close to being available once again, ahead of the League Cup Semi-Final showdown with holders, St Johnstone, later this month.​

As for the hosts, Jordan McGhee's knee and Alex Jakubiak's shoulder are likely to keep them out, while former Celt, Cillian Sheridan has an achilles strain and Leigh Griffiths, who is on loan from Celtic, is unable to play against his parent club.​

~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 252 W: 149 D: 60 L: 43

Away v Dundee
P: 127 W: 63 D: 33 L: 31​

Last 5 Meetings
WWWWD

Away v Dundee
WWWWW

~~~~ 2021/22 Form ~~~~ ​

Overall
WDWWW ~ WLDWL

SPFL
DWWWW ~ WLDWL

CEL Away ~ DUN Home
WWWWL ~ LWLDD​