Hoops Host Difficult Dons Visit

Hoops Host Difficult Dons Visit
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~



Celtic Park, Glasgow
Sunday, 12 November 2023
14.30 GMT

Celtic will line up on Sunday afternoon to take on the visit of Barry Robson's Aberdeen side, as they seek to retain their grip at the summit of the Premiership table.

The Bhoys will need to shake off the chastizing Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, after Daizen Maeda's first half red card saw any semblence of game plan thrown out the window, ultimately resulting in a heavy 6-0 hammering.

The disappointment of the Champions League aside, Celtic remain undefeated in the League, currently sitting 8 points clear at the top of the table, albeit having played a game more than second placed Sevco.

And they boast an impressive record in recent times against Sunday's visitors, having won each of the past 8 straight meetings between these sides, and are undefeated by the Dons since May 2018.

On that evidence, Celtic should go into this game as clear favourites, but anyone who underestimates the Dons ahead of this visit have not been paying attention.


Kyogo scores against Aberdeen in the 3-1 win back in August

The visitors have their own reasons to be confident ahead of this game, as they continue to recover after a shakey start to the league campaign. Indeed, they did not pick up their first League win September 24.

Since then the Pittodrie club have climbed steadily and their knack of picking up results has continued since, heading into this weekend on the back of three matches without defeat across three different competitions - and all of which have been away from home.

The Dons defeated Motherwell in their most recent league outing, showcasing great attacking quality against the Steelmen by scoring four against them.​

It was then a matter of showing great resilience when, despite being reduced to 10 men, they still managed to defeat Hibs, 1-0, to book their place in the League Cup Final.

Most recently, the Dons travelled to Greece where they managed a very credible 2-2 draw with PAOK in the Europa Conference League in midweek.

Added to all this, Barry Robson's side have won both of their two previous trips to Glasgow so far this season, having defeated Sevco, 3-1, at Ipox in September, and the aformentioned League Cup Semi-Final win over the Hibees at Hampden, last weekend.

Indeed, they've come a long way since the sluggish start that they went through in those first 7-8 weeks of the campaign and are more than capable of providing a tough challenge for any team in the Premiership - including Celtic.

By the Numbers​

• Celtic are undefeated by Aberdeen since May 2018, having won 19 of the last 22 meetings overall - including the last 8 straight.

• Since January 2021, the Bhoys are undefeated at home against all Scottish opposition - avoiding defeat on Sunday will be the 50th game in that sequence.

• Aberdeen have taken a slow but steady approach to the League games, having yet to score in the first 20min of play across all their games, but have also only conceded once in the first 30min of games away from home.

Rodgers has won 10 of his 11 games in charge of Celtic v Aberdeen, with 1 defeat in 2018.

Team News

Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Daizen Maeda will be out for 6 weeks with a knee problem and joins Reo Hatate (hamstring), Liel Abada (thigh) and Stephen Welsh (ankle) in the treatment room, while Liam Scales continues to have to watch his step, as he is a booking away from accumulating enough that will require him to sit out a game.

As for the Robson's side, James McGarry and Shayden Morris remain sidelined, both with hamstring injuries. However, there is a strong possiblity of Bojan Miovski and Leighton Clarkson returning to the starting XI after they were on the bench on Thursday.​

Referee: Willie Collum

With 356 Premiership games since making his debut in April 2006, the 44y.o Collum is by far the most experienced active referee in Scotland, having made inexcess of over 100+ more games than the next most, Steven McLean. Celtic's last game with Collum holding the whistle was against Motherwell in September, that featured the frantic finish that ended in a 2-1 win for the Hoops.

Celtic's Overall Record Involving Celtic
M: 89 W: 67 D: 12 L: 10

VAR: John Beaton

​

~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 304 W: 187 D: 66 L: 51​

Last 5 Meetings
W W W W W

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~

All Comps
L W W D D ~ D W W L L

SPFL
W W D W W ~ W L D W W ​