Aberdeen v Celtic

Aberdeen vs Celtic Preview

Aberdeen picked up a point in last week's season opener in the Scottish Premiership with a 0-0 draw away from home at Livingston but arguably, the real work begins this Sunday lunchtime when they play host to Celtic at Pittodrie.

Aberdeen are likely to have the 5-0 thrashing by Celtic at Celtic Park on the final day of last season still ringing in their ears as they prepare for this upcoming clash but at least The Dons hold home advantage this time around which gives the hosts a sliver of a chance against Brendan Rodgers' side.

Aberdeen finished the Premiership regular season in a creditable third place at the end of the regular season and indeed continued to finish in third place in the subsequent Championship Group, thus earning them a place in the Champions League qualifiers, despite winning just one of their final five games of the term.

That victory came in the form of a 3-0 home win against St Mirren and although they were handed defeats by Rangers, Hearts and Celtic during the final weeks, it's worth noting that each of these three losses were inflicted upon The Dons on their travels.

After seeing Rangers slip up in their season opener away from home at Kilmarnock, Celtic would have been relieved to get their opening game out of the way and unscathed as they recorded a 4-2 home win against Ross County at Celtic Park to hand manager, Brendan Rodgers, the perfect return in his second stint at the club.

Celtic finished champions of the Scottish top flight once again at the end of last season, this time under Australian coach Ange Postecoglou but his departure to Tottenham has paved the way for a second tenure with The Hoops for Rodgers who'll be looking to continue Celtic's dominance over the rest of the field this season.

The visitors have lost just two out of their last 32 games overall in the Scottish Premiership which indeed is some record but if they are to slip up, it's perhaps more likely to happen in the early stages of this season rather than later on.

In addition, the two defeats were both recent losses away from home in the latter stages of last season, having slipped up at Rangers and Hibernian, and this perhaps gives Aberdeen a slight whiff of a potential upset here.

Aberdeen v Celtic Verdict

Aberdeen are unbeaten in their last seven matches on home soil at Pittodrie which includes picking up six wins and conceding just once, so the hosts will be quietly confident that they can give Celtic a real run for their money on Sunday lunchtime in what could be a tightly fought and low-scoring encounter, with the odds of an Aberdeen win too good to turn down.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 3.5 goals @ 1.66

Other side bets worth considering:

Aberdeen win @ 6.50

Correct score: Aberdeen 2-0 @ 41.00