Motherwellvs.Celtic

The hosts are fifth in the table with 31 points from 24 matches, while the visitors are top of the standings with 60 points from their 23 league fixtures.

Match preview

After a promising start to the season that saw Motherwell pick up eight wins and one draw from their first 16 league outings, their campaign has taken a significant turn for the worse over the past weeks.

The Steelmen managed just one win in their next nine matches across all competitions, alongside three draws and five defeats, including three consecutive losses - two of which were back-to-back defeats against the Scottish Premiership's worst side, St Johnstone.

Despite sitting fifth in the top flight, that is seemingly not enough for some supporters of Motherwell, with Stuart Kettlewell receiving intense abuse after their back-to-back defeats to St Johnstone.

Kettlewell, who was appointed in February 2023 and guided Motherwell to safety in 2022-23, secured a ninth-place finish in 2023-24 and had the team sitting fifth this season, resigned after the abuse directed at him and his family, leaving the club with the difficult task of finding his replacement.

That leaves Motherwell not only looking to end a disappointing four-game winless streak as they take on the league leaders, but also facing their first match in almost two years without Kettlewell at the helm, as Stephen Frail takes charge on an interim basis.

Celtic will certainly be strong favourites to secure a resounding victory, given their sensational record across all competitions this term, suffering just three defeats in 36 games.

They were on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline against Aston Villa during midweek, where the Bhoys initially drew level from 2-0 down only to concede two second-half goals, but Celtic still progressed to the knockout rounds of the Champions League with a 21st-placed finish.

With just three matches to regain winning momentum before hosting Bayern Munich in the first leg of their knockout playoff round tie, Brendan Rodgers will be looking for a convincing win and strong performance here.

The Bhoys have been extremely dominant in this fixture in recent history, avoiding defeat in all of the last 33 meetings, including 4-0 and 3-0 wins over the Steelmen earlier this term.

Motherwell Scottish Premiership form:

D

L

W

D

L

L

Motherwell form (all competitions):

L

W

D

L

L

L

Celtic Scottish Premiership form:

W

L

W

W

W

D

Celtic form (all competitions):

W

W

D

W

W

L

Team News

The hosts are without Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (strain), Aston Oxborough (finger), Lennon Miller (ankle), Paul McGinn (thigh), Ross Callachan (hamstring), Steve Seddon (ankle) and Zach Robinson (Achilles tendon) due to injury issues.

Andy Halliday may also be absent from this match after the midfielder was forced off in the 67th minute of their 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone last time out, meaning Davor Zdravkovski could partner Harrison Paton in midfield.

As for Celtic, Cameron Carter-Vickers (muscle) and James Forrest (foot) are both out with injuries, while new-signing Jota will be unable to make his second debut for a number of weeks due to a muscle issue.

Following Kyogo Furuhashi's departure to Rennes, Adam Idah started and scored twice in the match against Aston Villa, and the striker is expected to lead the line again here.

Motherwell possible starting lineup:

Balcombe; O'Donnell, Gordon, Blaney; Sparrow, Zdravkovski, Paton, Kaleta; Maswanhise, Nicholson; Watt

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Idah, Palma

We say: Motherwell 0-3 Celtic

Written by

Ellis Stevens

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