Celtic haven’t had long to recover from their midweek trip to Romania ahead of this Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off in the Scottish Premiership. Can Motherwell take advantage at Fir Park?
Motherwell Form and Team News
Motherwell won all four of the matches in the group stages of the League Cup without conceding a single goal and again kept a clean sheet in the Premiership opener at Livingston so maybe Stephen Robinson’s new game plan is working. The goals for tally suggests they aren’t missing Curtis Main as much as many people thought!
However, the ‘Well manager admits that all his players will need to be at the top of their game to thwart the champions. His forwards will also need to be a lot more inventive than they were at Livingston, particularly the wingers. Jermaine Hylton could get some joy down the right flank with their opponents still searching for a natural replacement for Kieran Tierney. Devante Cole and Sherwin Seedorf will also be hoping to make a start having come on as substitutes last week – their team-mates will be hoping to cash in on any weariness in the Glasgow side.
Celtic Form and Team News – will the Hoops to be totally focussed on their trip to Lanarkshire?
There might be a temptation for Neil Lennon and his players to take their eye off the ball at Fir Park.
They have an absolutely vital Champions League qualifier against Cluj FC just 80 hours after their trip to Lanarkshire and the Celtic manager will not want to take any unnecessary risks with his team selection.
The reigning champions got their Premiership campaign off to the perfect start when, helped by a Ryan Christie hat-trick, they thrashed St Johnstone 7-0 at Celtic Park a week ago. But they found things much tougher in Romania on Wednesday when requiring a James Forrest equaliser to extend their unbeaten run. Boli Bolingoli Mbombo, a £3million summer signing from Rapid Vienna, again looked ill-at-ease on the left side of defence and teams may well target that position in upcoming matches.
This could be a good match in which to re-introduce Leigh Griffiths to the starting line-up. Olivier Ntcham could come back into the Celtic midfield if Lennon decides to rest Forrest for the Cluj return but the manager may be forced into risking Callum McGregor, Scott Brown Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ajer.
Motherwell v Celtic Head-to-Heads
Celtic have failed to win on their last three visits to Fir Park, all of those match ending in draws. That said, Motherwell have not beaten their opponents in any match since 2015 and not at home since 2013. In their last nine meetings, home and away, ‘Well have not managed to score more than once.
Motherwell v Celtic Best Match Odds
Motherwell 9/1, Draw 17/4, Celtic 4/11 (Odds correct at 2.30pm August 9)
Motherwell v Celtic Predictions
Both sides should now be fully up to speed and this is a more tricky fixture for Celtic than the odds would suggest. Motherwell have been hard to beat at Fir Park since the turn of the year and aren’t conceding many goals. With the possibility that the champions might not be at full strength, the draw at 17/4 with Unibet makes plenty of appeal.
Under 3.5 total goals is a general 4/9 and also looks a safe investment. Celtic will not push forward in numbers unless circumstances dictate and Motherwell seem comfortable at concentrating on defence. The home side are also attractively priced getting two goals start on the handicap.
