Having defeated both Dundee clubs in the matter of days, Celtic are not within touching distance of winning their fourth straight league title. With only four games left to play, the Hoops are eight points clear of second placed Aberdeen, who themselves have enjoyed a terrific season, and mounted somewhat of a challenge to the Glasgow club. With the League Cup already in the trophy cabinet at Celtic Park, and with the championship seemingly on the way, there will be a tinge of disappointment come the end of the season following their controversial defeat in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup just over a week ago. The Celtic management and players cannot dwell on that, and to their credit they have responded well to that disappointment with successive away wins in the league.
Another club who can be very pleased with their efforts this season is Paul Hartley’s Dundee. Having won the Championship last season, they have impressed many with their style of play and the consistency by which they have picked up results. The end result was a place in the top six which would have exceeded their expectations from the beginning of the campaign. Even last week when going down 2-1 at home to Celtic, Hartley’s men never stopped trying to play football, pulling a goal back late on. There are signs, however, that their exertions this season are beginning to catch up with them as they come into this game on the back of three straight defeats and managing just one win in their last seven league games.
Although the chance of a treble has eluded them for another season, there will be a lot of positives to take from Ronny Delia’s first season in charge of the club. The Norwegian had a terrible start to his Celtic career as the club suffered two eliminations in their bid to qualify for the Champions League. An indifferent start to the league campaign never done himself any favours, either, but since the turn of the year Delia’s men have really picked things up and surged their away ahead at the top of the table. There have been a couple of bumps in the road on the way and the manager will obviously want to strengthen the squad over the summer in a bid to qualify for the Champions League proper, but there’s no doubting that Celtic have progressed throughout this season which bodes well for the future.
Dundee have picked up the exact same number of points both home and away this season although they have recorded one more win on their travels than at Dens Park. The majority of those wins came earlier in the season as they won four of their first six away games following promotion. In their last 10 games on the road they have picked up a couple of wins but suffered defeat on five occasions. One of those defeats came at Celtic when they went down 2-1 back in November. Their final away fixture of the season see’s them travel to bitter rivals Dundee United on the last day which is obviously the big game for their supporters but the Dundee players would love to upset the league leaders in their own stadium live on television.
As much as it looks as though Celtic will win the league, the challenge of Aberdeen has made it a little less comfortable than it has been over the last couple of years. A win on Friday against Dundee would mean that the Dons would have to take all three points on Saturday otherwise the race would be over. That is not to say a Celtic win is a foregone conclusion. Dundee have been competitive in every one of their games with the Bhoys this season, drawing one and lost both league games by the odd goal with the biggest margin of victory coming in their Scottish Cup tie when Celtic ran out 2-0 winners. I mentioned that I thought Hartley’s team were just beginning to feel the effects of a their first season back in the top flight and Friday’s match may well prove to be long night. The pressure is somewhat off Celtic after their two most recent wins and that could spell trouble for the visitors. So often this season Delia’s men have missed so many chances in games, preventing the score reflecting their dominance. For the reasons mentioned above I think that could change and fancy the home side to coast to victory.
Celtic to score over 3.5 goals 15/8 @ William Hill
