Celtic are set to travel to Global Energy Stadium on Sunday to face Ross County, looking to extend their perfect start to the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership season.
The hosts sit seventh in the table on seven points with one win, four draws and two losses, while the visitors remain flawless with six wins from six in the league.
Match preview
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Ross County have struggled over the past two years in the Scottish Premiership, facing relegation battles in both seasons to secure their place in the division.
They placed in the relegation playoff place in both 2022-23, narrowly defeating Partick Thistle 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw, and 2023-24, comfortably beating Raith Rovers 6-1 on aggregate.
Don Cowie, appointed in February 2024, would have been aiming to steer the team clear of another relegation battle this season, and they have made a solid start in pursuit of that goal.
After winning all four of their Scottish League Cup games, Ross County kick-started their league campaign with back-to-back draws against Motherwell and Dundee United.
A disappointing 1-0 defeat to Spartans in the second round of the Scottish League Cup ended their unbeaten start, and defeats to Rangers and Aberdeen followed.
Cowie's men were able to bounce back with a 2-0 victory against Dundee, and they have since gone on to narrowly draw 3-3 with St Johnstone, scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes to equalise, and 1-1 with Hearts, heartbreakingly conceding a 96th-minute equaliser.
Cowie will be hoping his team can extend that positive run against Celtic on Sunday, but the Staggies will certainly be major underdogs heading into a game against the league leaders.
Celtic have enjoyed a phenomenal start to the 2024-25 season, winning all of their first nine matches across all competitions, including a historic 5-1 victory against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League.
They finally suffered their first defeat of the campaign in their last outing, a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, a result Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to put behind them with a convincing win on Sunday.
The Bhoys should be in good spirits heading into this match despite their last loss, as Celtic have scored an impressive 20 goals in six league outings while remarkably yet to concede a single goal in the league.
Rodgers's side have also been dominant in this fixture in recent years, winning all of their last 11 encounters since suffering their last defeat to Ross County in February 2021.
Team News
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Ross County are set to be without George Harmon, Josh Reid, Max Sheaf and Ricki Lamie for this match due to a variety of injury problems, though all four are expected to return later this month.
Ronan Hale, who has scored in each of Ross County's last two matches, is a doubt after the forward was replaced by Alex Samuel in the 68th minute of their draw with Hearts.
Elsewhere, Cowie could name a similar side to the one that has featured in each of their last three outings, with the hosts producing a series of positive performances in those games.
The visitors will be without Cameron Carter-Vickers after the defender sustained a toe injury late last month, leaving Liam Scales and Auston Trusty likely to continue in defence.
Rodgers was dealt another injury blow in their drubbing by Borussia Dortmund as Alistair Johnston failed to complete the 90 minutes, coming off for Anthony Ralston, and the right-back has since pulled out of the Canada squad in order to rehab an injury, making him a doubt for this one.
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Wright, Lopota, Leak; Brown, Nisbet, Randall, Chilvers, Campbell; White, Samuel
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Valle; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Idah, Forrest
We say: Ross County 0-4 Celtic
Despite their disappointing 7-1 defeat in their last match, Celtic remain heavy favourites for a comfortable victory in this encounter, and given their phenomenal form in the Scottish Premiership so far, we anticipate they will secure the win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
