Celts Well Set for Steelmen

Celts Well Set for Steelmen
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Daizen Maeda in action when these sides last met, back in April


Fir Park, Motherwell
Saturday, 30 September 2023
12.30 BST

The Hoops make the short journey to Lanarkshire on Saturday, when they take on Stuart Kettlewell's Motherwell, looking to maintain their lead at the top of the Premiership table.

The Bhoys will be looking to add a fourth consecutive league win after their 3-0 victory against Livingston, despite being reduced to 10 men with more than an hour to play.

Fir Park has been something of a happy hunting ground for the Bhoys over the past few years. Indeed, home and away the Hoops have dominated this fixture and after having had the full week off to prepare for this game, shouldbe well prepared for what awaits them on Saturday.


Former Steelman David Turnbull has already scored 3 league goals for the Hoops this season​

Motherwell are coming into this match on the back of two consecutive losses, to St Mirren and Sevco respectively, both by a single goal margin - and in arguably both games, their efforted deserved much more than the narrow loss reflects.

It has been a tough run for the Steelmen, who have been highly impressive since Kettlewell took over, back in mid-February, taking 40 points in league play since then - the third most across the entire division. Even in taking the post-split from last season into account, overall it has been impressive form.

But after the 2 most recent results they will be hurting and looking to arrest that slide in results and will be looking for another gritty performance, with Kettlewell having been present at Celtic's League Cup defeat to Killie as well as last week in Rotterdam for the Bhoys' second half implosion against Feyenoord, studying for the chinks in Brendan Rodgers' formation and tactics.

If the Bhoys play to form though, the only thing that will matter is coming back to Glasgow having taken maximum points once again, as they look to continue the trend of having won each of their away games in the League this season.

By the Numbers​

• Prior to the 2-2 draw in their most recent meeting back in April, the Bhoys had won the previous 15 consecutive meetings in both League and Cup games between these sides.

• The Hoops have been undefeated by Motherwell since December 2015 - and not since April 2013 at Fir Park.

• Since Stuart Kettlewell took over in mid-February, the Fir Park outfit have accrued 40 league points - a tally only bettered by Celtic (48) and Sevco (43).

The Bhoys celebrate Hatate's opener in the 3-0 win against Livingston

Team News

The Bhoys will continue to be without winger Liel Abada as well as defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Newrocki and Stephen Welsh, but Nat Phillips could be an important inclusion after returning to training and with the Lazio game just ariound the corner.

Additionally, Joe Hart will miss through suspension, following the first red card of his entire professional career last week, with Scott Bain most likely to deputize in the absence of the experienced Englishman.

As for the hosts, Kettlewell's attacking options have been bolstered by the return to fitness of Oli Shaw and Conor Wilkinson, which is important as the Steelment have only scored the one goal in September.

Referee: Willie Collum

Collum has taken charge of no fewer than 361 Premiership matches - including 3 already this season so far - since making his debut all the way back in 2006. This will be his first Celtic game since the Scottish Cup Semi-Final win over Sevco, back in April.

Celtic's 0verall Record
M88 W66 D12 L10

VAR: Grant Irvine



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 223 W: 133 D: 54 L: 36​

Last 5 Meetings
D W W W W

~~~~ 2023/24 Form ~~~~ ​

Overall
W L W W D ~ L L W W L

SPFL
W W W D W ~ L L W W W​