Hoops Hunting Fifth Straight Win
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Kyogo netted for the third successive match against Hearts last weekend


Tannadice Park, Dundee
Sunday, 28 August 2022
12.00 BST

The Hoops travel away to Dundee United this weekend, seeking a fifth consecutive league win and further build on the 100% start to the season.

The Bhoys are two points clear at the top of the League table, but with just four games played it is far too soon to read too much into that alone or get carried away.

Ange Postecoglou's Bhoys have enjoyed a tremendous start to the season. Although there are numerous reasons for this, a part of this could be attributed to not having to worry about European qualifiers.

That said, now that the Hoops have been drawn in the same Champions League Group as Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shaktar Donetsk, the players, staff and fans must set aside the prospect of those nights in the coming months and not allow themselves to be distracted from focusing on United this Sunday.

Which no doubt is the message that the manager will be drilling into his charges, ahead of this clash with United.


May 2022: Giakoumakis' goal secured the League title the last time Celtic visited Tannadice

The last time that the Hoops visited Tannadice they only needed a point to clinch the League title at the end of last season, and they accomplished this, thanks to a Giorgos Giakoumakis strike and a hard fought 1-1 draw.

This time however, they will be looking for all three points to maintain the perfect start to the campaign at the expense of a United side that has been struggling for form so far this season.

The Tangerines are yet to record a win in the league this season, and indeed the only point they have came on the opening day where they played out a draw with newly promoted Killie. Since then however, they have gone down to Livingston, Hearts and St Mirren.

Indeed, including their return leg match against AZ Alkmaar, United have conceded a staggering 14 goals in the past 3 games, which must be a massive headache for manager Jack Ross and his squad, now faced with the task of trying to shutdown Celtic's attack.

And while their recent woes should point to a United outfit currently struggling, it doesn't take much looking back to remember that they did manage to shock AZ Alkmaar at Tannadice, and that they proved very stubborn at times last season also, as the Hoops dropped points twice to the Terrors - once each in both Glasgow and on Tayside.

All the more reason why there can be no room for distractions or complacency ahead of this fixture.


Greg Taylor has impressed with a string of fine performances this season​

Stats & Facts
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• The Hoops have gone 36 League games undefeated since September 2021.

• Celtic have won 5 of their last 7 league visits to Tannadice.

• United are coming into this match on the back of 3 consecutive league defeats

• The home side's troubles have largely come in the second half of League games, having conceded 9 goals overall, with 7 of those conceded in the second half.

Team News

For Celtic, Yosuke Ideguchi remains sidelined and it remains to be seen if it is too soon for new Bhoy, Saed Haksabanovic - who penned a 5 year deal on Thursday - to feature.

As for the hosts, Nicky Clark is expected to be involved, as could Craig Sibbald, who Jack Ross admitted he has had to managed carefully due to the midfielder not having had a proper pre-season following his arrival from Livinston earlier this summer, while Peter Pawlett remains out.

Referee: Steven McLean

This will be the first time McLean has been appointed to a League match involving Celtic since Feb 2021. Indeed the only time that he has been the whistleblower in a Celtic match since then was Feb 2022, in last season's Scottish Cup tie against Raith Rovers. This will also be only his second match in the top tier this season, when he was the match official of Livingston's 1-0 win over United at Tannadice, earlier this month.



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 218 W: 128 D: 54 L: 36​

Last 5 Meetings
D W W W D

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ ​

SPFL
W W W W ~ D L L L
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