Wednesday 20th September 2017 Kickoff:1945hrs Dundee v Celtic Football – Scotland – League Cup Rangers and Hibs moved into the semi-finals of the League Cup on Tuesday after both surviving scares. Dundee host Celtic with both sides looking to join them in the next round and the current holders are fancied by most to continue their excellent domestic run but Dundee were able to secure an impressive win over St Johnstone in the league at the weekend and may fancy springing a shock on the visitors.
Neil McCann was entrusted with guiding Dundee to safety towards the end of last season and he achieved that with the minimal of fuss. He agreed to stay on after some deliberation but it’s not been quite as easy in this campaign. Dundee’s 2-1 win over the Perth side on Saturday was their first in the league this season. Defeats to Ross County, Rangers, Aberdeen and Hamilton had them languishing at the foot of the table so to get their first three points was vital, and McCann will hope it sparks something of a revival. Their participation in the League Cup has been a lot more positive, of course, after they went through their group which contained rivals Dundee United. Such is the complexities of the Scottish League Cup, they were drawn against United in the first knockout stage and overcame them 2-1. Ordinarily a home tie would be well received in any competition but when you’re drawn against a team who won the treble last season and have yet to taste defeat to a Scottish side in over a year, it dilutes that home advantage slightly.
Celtic’s 4-0 win over Ross County was as routine as it comes, but it took their domestic unbeaten run to 55 games – a phenomenal achievement by anybody’s standards. It also resorted to them to the top of the Scottish Premiership outright and got them back on track following their thrashing to PSG the midweek before. Their attention now switches to the first piece of silverware up for grabs and what could be a potentially tricky tie at Dens Park. It’s made that slightly more difficult by the fact that it is the first of three away games in a week, a run which takes them to Ibrox to face Rangers on Saturday before taking on Anderlecht in the Champions League. Most Celtic fans would say that Wednesday’s game is the lowest down on the list of priorities – and it’s hard to argue with that – but they’ll also be aware that they have to win it in order to continue their quest for another domestic treble. And bearing in mind that no Celtic team has ever won successive trebles, it’s an achievement they may well be targeting even this early on.
Dundee v Celtic Betting Tip
Dundee will be boosted by gaining their first league win of the season but they face a huge task if they are to reach the next round of the League Cup. It will be a concern at the rate they are leaking goals having conceded in all six league games thus far and in the last round of this competition – they actually boast the worst defensive record of the 12 top flight clubs. If any team is going to exploit that it will be a Celtic team who have been free scoring in domestic competitions. They hit five in the last round despite making a host of changes and barely broke sweat to get the four they got on Saturday. Rodgers will again make changes with the games coming thick and fast but his squad is strong and I see them having little trouble in disposing of Dundee.
In five of their seven domestic games Celtic have scored in both halves and they can do so again on Wednesday.
Celtic to score in both halves 3/4 @ Marathon Bet
