Aberdeen make the trip to Glasgow on Wednesday to face the current holders, Celtic at Parkhead.
This is a tie which Celtic have had full dominance in, and have done for years. Aberdeen had a tough campaign, with Jimmy Thelin seeing the exit door in January, before Peter Leven took charge until the end of the season, and the Dons now have Stephen Robinson in charge as they look to get back into Europe. For Celtic, they also had a horror start, which saw Rodgers depart very soon into the season, with Martin O’Neill taking charge on a temporary basis before Wilfried Nancy came in, which didn’t go well at all, although he did manage to defeat Aberdeen at Celtic Park. Nancy was quickly sacked, with Martin O’Neill returning to eventually lead Celtic to the title after a dramatic final day, which saw Hearts top of the league going into it, but a 3-1 win for Celtic meant Martin O’Neill’s men secured the title.
It hasn’t been an amazing start to their season despite making it into the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals. In terms of league duty, Aberdeen have picked up just one win in their opening three games, which came all the way back on matchday one, defeating Hearts 2-1 at Pittodrie in a tie which the home team always seem to win. Aberdeen also lost 2-0 at Dens Park to Dundee, as well as, most recently, a 1-0 defeat to Rangers courtesy of a Lawrence Shankland penalty.
For Celtic, they are unbeaten in league business so far, as they defeated Steven Pressley’s men 1-0 in Glasgow on flag night, before beating Kilmarnock heavily 5-1 at Rugby Park, with a most recent 2-1 win over Falkirk in Glasgow. Celtic are also in the last eight of the League Cup, after cruising to victory at Tannadice in a 4-0 away win. Martin O’Neill’s side have had a very poor campaign in Europe, however — although they did win 3-0 at home to LASK, you’d think that would be perfect, and it got even better as Callum McGregor put his side four to the good, but it only went downhill from there as Celtic went on to lose 5-1 on aggregate and drop down to the Europa League, where they will face Ferencváros, SL Benfica, Celta Vigo, Beşiktaş, Torreense, Marseille and Union Saint-Gilloise.
As mentioned earlier, Celtic have been in control of this tie, with the last time Aberdeen defeated Celtic being in 2025 in the Scottish Cup final, as Aberdeen took the Scottish Cup back up to the Granite City to stop the treble. But in the league, Aberdeen haven’t been able to come away as winners since May 2018, with Andrew Considine striking on the final day of the season to beat Rangers to second place — a game many fans believe Celtic let the Pittodrie side win, to ensure the Ibrox side didn’t get second.
Celtic have found the net 17 times in their last 5 league meetings with the Dons, who have only found the target four times in those 5 meetings. Celtic are also in fine form in terms of goals, with 15 scored in their last 5, and former Bodø/Glimt man Kasper Hogh the top goalscorer (3). Aberdeen themselves have netted 8 goals in the past five outings, with Kevin Nisbet Aberdeen’s joint-top goalscorer (1).
Aberdeen will welcome back Mats Knoester to their backline, but Brad Lyons remains out for their trip to the East End of Glasgow, and for Celtic, they seem to be without Alistair Johnston and Kasper Hogh, as well as Callum Osmand, who left on crutches after their win over Falkirk.