Celtic v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Sunday 24th May – Kickoff: 1230hrs
Football – Scotland – Scottish Premiership Betting Tips
Sunday will see Celtic presented with their fourth straight Scottish Premiership trophy. The Glasgow club were crowned champions at the beginning of this month after being run relatively close by runners-up Aberdeen. Although the majority of the squad will have been part of the previous title-winning squads, it will be a first for the management team of Ronny Delia, John Collins and John Kennedy. The Norwegian, Delia, has enjoyed a much better second half of the season in his first year as a manager at Celtic Park and will be hoping to finish in style with a win on Sunday. The manager is already looking ahead to the new season and planning for the Champions League qualifiers where he hopes to have better fortunes than this season when they failed to qualify for the competition, twice. He’ll be well aware of the expectation that will be on him to succeed this time which has led to him given some players an earlier than normal rest.
Inverness are also likely to rest players for this game, but for a different reason in comparison to their opponents. Caley Thistle are preparing for their first ever Scottish Cup final ahead of facing Falkirk at Hampden next Saturday. They reached that final following a very controversial last four game against Celtic back in April. After going 1-0 up in the first half, Celtic looked likely to double their advantage only for Inverness’ Josh Meekings to handball on the goal line. All seven of the officials missed it that day, and it proved to be somewhat of a turning point as Caley went on to win the game 3-2 in extra time. The final promises to be a fantastic occasion for both clubs, but particularly the Highland team who will be looking to make some history. Whatever team Hughes does pick to play on Sunday he will be demanding a professional performance ahead of their big day.
The Hoops have continued to pick up points since clinching the league, and are now 10 games unbeaten in the Premiership, winning eight of those. The dominance they have shown in 2015 will give everybody associated with the club the confidence needed to go into the qualifiers at the beginning of next season, and has also proven that they have bounced back from some less than assured performances earlier in the campaign. Although their points tally will be some way behind last season’s, Celtic are still set to win the title by double figures, which is no mean feat when you consider the transition that has occurred over the last season.
As well as their impending cup final date, Inverness excellent campaign is underlined with a third-placed finish in the league. It represents their highest ever finish and another reason why John Hughes was named manager of the year. Considering he has yet to win anything, it was somewhat of a surprise to see him beat the likes of Delia and Robbie Neilson, the latter in charge of a Hearts team who romped the Championship title. Thar’s not to detract from Hughes’ achievements, of course. Like Celtic, Caley have also performed well since the split – winning three and drawing their other game.
Celtic v Inverness CT Betting Tips
Although this game means absolutely nothing in terms of league position, I expect it to be pretty competitive, especially on Celtic’s behalf. The Champions will certainly want to put on a show for the home support before the trophy presentation, but they will also want to avenge that semi-final defeat, not least because it denied them an opportunity to win the treble. If the visitors do rest players, as I expect them to, it could be a long afternoon for them. Although they have more than held their own against Celtic this season, it will be difficult for them to find the intensity required to get a result, as there thoughts will no doubt be on the final with Falkirk. With a hint of revenge in the air, I expect the home side to be too strong for Inverness and record another comfortable victory to sign off the season in style.
Celtic -2 Asian Handicap 25/18 @ Betvictor
