Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Scottish Premiership match.
For Aberdeen, winning this match is crucial; otherwise, they might as well abandon their championship aspirations now, as Celtic will not relinquish their lead.
Aberdeen
They are already trailing by four points with one extra game played due to setbacks in their last three matches. While the loss to St. Mirren (1:2) is somewhat understandable given their position in the upper part of the table, the two draws with the bottom sides Hibernian (3:3) and Hearts (1:1) are less so. The common factor is that all these games were played away. At Pittodrie, it’s a completely different story: they have a ten-match winning streak. However, there’s no Celtic in that streak. The last two visits by Celtic resulted in draws (1:1 in the league and 3:3 in the Scottish Cup).
Celtic
Celtic have only dropped points away in the Champions League. In the Premiership, it’s been all wins thus far. Their last defeat was on 3rd March 2024 against Hearts (0:2). This season in the Scottish league, Celtic have scored at least two goals against opposing hosts. Their most recent victory was over the bronze medallists of the 2023/24 season, Hearts (4:1).
Aberdeen vs Celtic Prediction
In the Scottish Premiership, no team other than Aberdeen in the eighth round has managed to score more than one goal against Celtic (2:2). Something similar could happen now, but despite their impressive home winning streak, Aberdeen have shown clear issues with maintaining their pace, so our prediction is not in their favour.
