Wednesday, 19:45
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Dons unbeaten in the Premiership this season
The top-two sides in the Scottish Premiership after nine games go head-to-head at Pittodrie on Wednesday in Aberdeen and Celtic. The rivals remain the only two who have yet to lose a game at this level. As they say in boxing - someone's O has to go. The locals are expected to come up short, but Derek McInnes and co boast the better recent form, having won each of their last three league starts. That purple patch is made up of wins over Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibs - all to nil.
Impressive, that has them joint-top with Celtic on 23 points, six ahead of Rangers in third. That gifts the locals a bit of breathing space, but with The Gers hosting second-bottom Kilmarnock on the same night, the pressure is on Aberdeen to get something out of this match. Unfortunately for fans, recent meetings do little to inspire confidence in the home cheer. The Dons finished second to Celtic on all fronts last term, runner-up in the Premiership, runner-up in the League Cup and runner-up in the Scottish Cup.
In the six matches involving these sides in all competition last term, the head-to-head stats finished 6-0 in The Bhoys' favour, including a 3-1 away win when the granite city boys last hosted. Jonny Hayes was on target inside 12 minutes that day, but his strike came after Boyata, Armstrong and Griffiths had driven the champions into an early lead. Both teams to score again is an option in your midweek accumulators, 9/10 available on the sportsbook. Neutrals will be hoping that comes good.
Dembele back scoring important goals
It's generally accepted amongst followers of Scottish football that Brendan Rodgers' side is stronger this season than the one we watched go unbeaten in domestic action last term. The treble winners have faced the same problems in the Champions League however, and despite pulling off a morale-boosting 3-0 win over a poor Anderlecht last month, that rare positive remains sandwiched between heavy defeats to PSG and Bayern Munich.
The visitors were beaten 3-0 at the Allianz Arena - Muller, Kimmich and Hummels all on target, Celtic ending with less than 40% of the overall match possession, and just three shots on target. They were seen flexing their muscles on Saturday however, beating Hibs 4-2 to reach the final of the League Cup. Lustig knocked in a double, but the most pleasing aspect of that semi-final win over The Hibees was the return of Moussa Dembele, who hauled himself off the bench after an hour to score two of his own, putting the game to bed.
There's no doubt Celtic have the ability to go through another domestic campaign unbeaten, and there's not many backing against them to continue their dominance with another league win, but they face a real test of character here. Already their fourth outing of the month, Rodgers must continue to rotate and freshen up a weary squad, while putting Aberdeen in their place. Dembele chipping in with another goal would be greatly appreciated. Celtic to win and both teams to score appeals at 12/5 (sportsbook).
Celts expected to pull rank at Pittodrie
Given Celtic's recent success, both in this fixture, and in Scottish football as a whole, it'll come as no surprise to punters to find the champions short-price favourites to put an end to Aberdeen's unbeaten run. They scored a total of 14 goals in six matches vs Aberdeen last season, conceding only three. The sportsbook has an away win marked up at 4/7, or there's 1.59 on the exchange. Play the handicap -1 at 13/8, market top price on the sportsbook.
Aberdeen will leave empty-handed, again slapped down by Celtic, if this match goes the way Betfair traders expect it to, with a chunky 5/1 available on the locals - 6.40 with the exchange. Harsh, but we have to go back eight games to find The Dons' last win over Wednesday's opponents. We're sure home fans would rate the draw as a decent result, and punters can get on a level finish at 4.10.
Get set for an entertaining encounter
The stats suggest we should be in for an entertaining match in front of the BT Sport cameras. There have been three or more goals scored in each of the last two games involving these sides. There was also six goals scored in Celtic's weekend win over Hibs at Hampden and three in Aberdeen's last outing at Pittodrie.
Over 2.5 goals looks worth a play in your midweek bets, 1.85 on the exchange more than enough to give followers a healthy interest. If you'd prefer to go against the grain, there's a bigger price to be had about under 2.5 goals, currently trading at 2.10
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Over 2.5 goals @ 1.85
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