Recent Form
Celtic came close to an important win away at Leverkusen on Thursday, but in spite of Joe Hart’s best efforts, familiar defensive frailties saw their lead first eliminated and then overturned in the final 10 minutes.
That consigned them to third place in the group and subsequently they will drop down into the UEFA Conference League for the knockout rounds, but it was a marked improvement from the last time they faced the German outfit as they were trounced 4-0 at the end of September.
The Hoops are now W8-D1-L1 across their past 10 fixtures and scoring goals certainly hasn’t been an issue. They netted twice at a minimum in eight of these games and are top scorers in the league with 30 goals from 13 appearances.
Surprisingly, despite Ange Postecoglou’s desire to have his team play on the front foot, they actually hold by far and away the best defensive record in the league, conceding just nine times so far.
Celtic -1 Handicap
Aberdeen are a desperately poor W2-D3-L10 in all competitions since mid-August, with a three-game unbeaten streak at the end of October giving way to a pair of defeats in their last two outings.
They’ve managed just a solitary clean sheet in 18 matches now, with that coming at home to a Hibernian outfit mired in poor form as they’ve lost five of their past six appearances.
The Dons haven’t secured a victory over Celtic in 15 meetings since the start of the 2018/19 season, though they haven’t been beaten by more than a single goal in any of the five encounters since the start of last term.
Despite their poor form, they’re not getting hammered and none of those 15 games since mid-August have seen them beaten by more than two goals, while only three of their 10 defeats over this period saw them go down by a two-goal margin.
Celtic To Win To Nil
Celtic will certainly expect to win this one having been fairly rampant at Parkhead, where they’re W10-D2-L1 since the start of August in all competitions.
All but one of those victories saw them register a clean sheet, while eight of them saw then win by a minimum two-goal margin.
The clean sheet appears a likely prospect against an Aberdeen side that are unlikely to be too adventurous in their approach, while with a stellar attacking line-up, they’ll also fancy their chances with the Dons struggling on the injury front and especially at the back.
Winger Matthew Kennedy and defenders Michael Devlin and Andrew Considine remain long-term absentees, centre-back Declan Gallagher is also injured and right-back Calvin Ramsay is a doubt, while versatile midfielder Funso Ojo is suspended here.
For the hosts, Carl Starfelt remains sidelined and it’s unlikely that Christopher Jullien will be ready for this clash after such a lengthy injury lay-off, though Postecoglou can still call upon Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh as a centre-back pairing.
PREDICTIONS:
CLETIC TO WIN TO NIL
CELTIC -1 HANDICAP
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