Celtic made the Boxing Day trip up to Dens Park to take on Dundee in the Scottish Premiership match. This is the seventh year in a row where the SPFL’s fixture list has thrown up a post Christmas away day for the Hoops while of course giving the Ibrox outfit home ties. Brendan Rodgers rightly called this out when the fixture was moved forward to Boxing Day for live broadcast on Sky Sports.
Celtic can re-establish a five points lead with a win over Dundee and that will also ensure that we head into the Glasgow Derby on Saturday at Celtic Park as league leaders.
Team News
Celtic will be without Tomoki Iwata who picked up an ankle strain in the Champions League victory over Feyenoord a few weeks ago.
Odin Thiago Holm will be back in the squad following illness. The Norwegian trained in Friday but the weekend was felt to be too soon for him, with Brendan Rodgers confirming at his media conference on Friday afternoon, which was attended by The Celtic Star, that Holm would be in the squad for the Boxing Day game.
Reo Hatate and Liel Abada could both be added to the squad that beat Livingston on Saturday afternoon. Both players have shown up well back training on the grass over the past week or so and after the 2-0 win at the weekend, Rodgers talked up the chances of Hatate in particular making a faster than expected return.
Jessica Elliott was at the post-match media conference on Saturday, representing The Celtic Star and reported on the Celtic manager’s response when asked if there was a chance that Hatate could be involved. Brendan said:
“Possibility, but we’ll just have to see on that. He’s been out on the grass and he’s been working well. He looks strong and fit. We’ll just have to assess that and weigh up the risk.
“For the second part of the season, he’s going to be huge for us. He’s such an instrumental player and the dynamic that he gives the team. He hasn’t featured much in the first part of the season but a game he came in to earlier on in the season, the whole speed of the game was different.
“That’s what we’re about, that tempo, that intensity. So the quicker we get him back, it’ll be like a new signing for us.”
Predicted Team
Expected Celtic team today is Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor (c), O’Riley, Bernardo; Maeda, Kyogo and Palma.
Managers’ Thoughts
“December’s a real grind of a month – lots of games, not a lot of recovery. But the expectation is to get the results and we fell short of that. Saturday, we were much more like ourselves. The determination was there in the team, which is what we want to see, and they got the result. We are in again on Christmas Day preparing for Dundee and we will look to go up there and get the points,” Brendan Rodgers, Celtic FC Manager.
“I want teams to come here and feel they are not just playing against the team on the pitch, they are playing against the crowd in the stands as well. They have been there for the players and the players really, really appreciate it. They comment on that all the time, about how the fans do play their part as the 12th man,” Tony Docherty, Dundee FC Manager.
One to watch – Left back Owen Beck is on loan from Liverpool and has been Dundee’s top performer this season, we flagged him up back in August ahead of the match at Celtic Park and he was the best player in the Dundee team that afternoon. Worth watching…
Dundee are without a win in 40 meetings with Celtic across all competitions, drawing a mere six of them, since a 2-0 victory at Celtic Park in May 2001. Celtic are unbeaten in 33 visits to Dens Park in all competitions, winning 26 times, since going down 1-0 in September 1988. It is their longest-ever unbeaten away run against a side in major competitions.
Dundee have lost five of their last six top-flight matches played on Boxing Day, losing five of them, since a 3-0 win away to Motherwell in 2000. Two of those defeats have been to Celtic. Celtic have won 16 of their last 17 Boxing Day league games, drawing the other, including each of their last 10 in a row. They have also won all three of their previous Boxing Day meetings with Dundee (1960, 2012, 2017).
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi has scored six goals in three Premiership appearances against Dundee, his joint-most against a side in the competition (also six v Heart of Midlothian).
Match Officials
Don Robertson has the whistle and he will be assisted at dens Park by Ross Macleod and Sean Carr, while the Fourth Official is Chris Fordyce. On Var as usual is a supporter of theRangers, this time it’s Greg Aitken and he will be assisted by David Roome.
Brendan Rodgers recently changes his mind on VAR saying that it should be put in the bin and after the latest incident at Fir Park at the weekend it’s hard to disagree with the Celtic manager on that.
It appears that the shirt pulling rule is being weaponised to suit one club and one club only. If the VAR officials see any tug on a Rangers jersey – however slight – the referee is called to the screen and inevitably a spot kick is awarded. When it’s a opponent it’s an entirely different story as both Aberdeen and Motherwell have found out in recent matches.
Kick-off Time
Dundee v Celtic takes place at 3pm. The Dens Park pitch was controversially deemed unplayable at the weekend shortly before the game against Aberdeen after a pitch inspection. The weather is bright and sunny in Tayside this morning – there’s not a cloud in the sky – so today’s game will be fine.
Where to Watch
Dundee v Celtic is live on Sky Sports and is also live on Celtic TV for subscribers based outside of Britain and Ireland.
Dundee ❓-❓ Celtic
Comment with your predictions ahead of this afternoon’s Boxing Day match in the #cinchPrem – live on Sky Sports 📺
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 26, 2023
𝙈 𝘼 𝙏 𝘾 𝙃 𝘿 𝘼 𝙔
🆚 Celtic
🏆 cinch Premiership
🏟️ The Scot Foam Stadium
⌚ 3pm Kick-Off
🎟️ https://t.co/9QzGfPz0jg
📺 Live on Sky Sports and Live on DeeTV for subscribers outside the UK
📻 Audio commentary for all DeeTV subscribers #thedee pic.twitter.com/yZW8xjI1SJ— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) December 26, 2023
Celtic all-time League vs Dundee.
Let’s just take care of business here with no injuries or suspensions ahead of Saturday.
COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN! pic.twitter.com/9rDvnRJDEI
— GrandOLTeam (@JBLuvsCeltic) December 26, 2023
𝙈 𝘼 𝙏 𝘾 𝙃 𝘿 𝘼 𝙔
🆚 Celtic
🏆 cinch Premiership
🏟️ The Scot Foam Stadium
⌚ 3pm Kick-Off
🎟️ https://t.co/9QzGfPz0jg
📺 Live on Sky Sports and Live on DeeTV for subscribers outside the UK
📻 Audio commentary for all DeeTV subscribers #thedee pic.twitter.com/yZW8xjI1SJ— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) December 26, 2023
📺 Dundee v Celtic LIVE on @CelticTV for overseas subscribers
Tap below for more info👇#DUNCEL | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG🍀
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 26, 2023
