Celtic will attempt to continue their unbeaten start to the 2023-24 Scottish Premiership campaign when they host Aberdeen on Sunday.
Both teams head into this match on the back of midweek European fixtures which provided vastly different results that each team now needs to respond to.
Match preview
© Reuters
The Hoops have been extremely dominant so far in their quest to retain their title, not losing a single match, while they have also scored the most goals and conceded the least to this point.
However, Celtic became unglued in midweek as they were emphatically defeated 6-0 against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, creating a result everyone included will want to forget.
A first-half red card for Daizen Maeda left the Scottish outfit facing an uphill battle against their La Liga opponents, but Brendan Rogers will be left wanting more from his team.
Heading into this weekend the pressure is now on the defending Scottish Premiership champions as they look to showcase their ability to fight back.
Celtic have created a healthy eight-point gap over their closest challengers in the division, but resting and relying upon that is something that the Hoops can ill-afford to do.
© Reuters
Aberdeen currently sit midtable in the Scottish Premiership, but they do head into this weekend on the back of three matches without a defeat in all competitions.
The Dons defeated Motherwell and then Hibernian in their previous two league outings, showcasing great attacking quality against the Steelmen by scoring four, and tremendous defensive style with a clean sheet against the Hibees.
Aberdeen shared the points with PAOK in the Europa Conference League in midweek, with Jamie McGrath scoring a 70th-minute equaliser to finish the game 2-2.
Barry Robson will be looking for his team to continue their recent performances this weekend, particularly since they are only two points above the relegation zone right now.
On the other hand, three points could lead to the Dons cracking the top half of the Scottish Premiership table, but they will need to be the first team to defeat Celtic in the league this season to achieve that.
Team News
© Reuters
Despite his red card in the Champions League, Maeda will be available on Sunday, and it is likely that Rogers will keep his faith in him.
Joe Hart will be hoping to put the 6-0 loss behind him with a stronger performance in goal on Sunday, with the former England international set to tap into his experience to ensure he puts that result behind him.
The Hoops do have several injury problems to deal with, though, as Reo Hatate is out with a hamstring issue, while Stephen Welsh and Liel Abada are also on the sidelines.
Bojan Miovski and Leighton Clarkson were both dropped from the starting lineup in midweek, and that could lead to Duk and Ryan Duncan keeping their spots.
James McGarry and Shayden Morris each missed the Europa Conference League outing due to hamstring problems, and it is likely that this fixture will come too soon in their recovery.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; Turnbull, McGregor, O'Riley; Palma, Furuhashi, Maeda
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Devlin, Gartenmann, Rubezic, Jensen, McKenzie; Polvara, Shinnie, Barron, McGrath; Duk
We say: Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen
Celtic will be attempting to put the Champions League defeat against Atletico Madrid behind them on Sunday, and that could lead to Aberdeen facing a focused team that should be too much for the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
