Celtic headed into Christmas on a little bit of a downer after dropping points at Tannadice but will be looking to bounce back on Boxing Day with a home win over Motherwell.
The Hoops travelled to Dundee United on Sunday looking to restore their 11-point lead over Rangers but instead saw it cut to nine after a frustrating 0-0 stalemate.
Like most people, our man Mark thought the champions would win comfortably but they couldn't get going in the windy conditions and Kyogo Furuhashi wasted the best chances that came their way.
Celtic now have two home games before their New Year trip to Ibrox and Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to avoid any more slips.
Motherwell make the short trip to Glasgow in high spirits, with the Steelmen sitting fourth after a run of three games without defeat.
Kilmarnock held them to a 1-1 draw at Fir Park last time out and Well now face a daunting double-header, with this clash followed by a weekend visit from Rangers.
How the bookies view it: Hoops hot favourites
Despite their poor show on Sunday, Celtic remain heavy favourites for this one at just 1/9 with BoyleSports. Motherwell are 18/1 rank outsiders and even the draw is massive at 15/2.
Recent head to head: Steelmen can draw some comfort
Motherwell have been a tough nut to crack for the Hoops in recent seasons and the Steelmen have claimed 1-1 draws on their last two visits to Celtic Park.
Those two results have been the only ray of light for Motherwell though, with 18 of the last 20 meetings ending in Celtic wins.
Players to watch: Maeda shouldering the burden
Rodgers has issues with his wingers, with Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest both sitting out Sunday's draw with injuries. Daizen Maeda is still fit and firing though and the Japanese will be key for Celtic here. He's 7/5 for anytime scorer and that looks decent value after netting 12 times already this term.
Celtic's defence is still a little vulnerable to pace on the counter and Tawanda Maswanhise has the speed to cause them problems. The Zimbabwean is 11/2 to add to his three-goal tally this term.
Probable line-ups
Rodgers claimed on Sunday that defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty and Alastair Johnston should be ready to return after illness and injury. But Kuhn looks set to miss out again along with Forrest.
Motherwell are without defender Dan Casey after his controversial red card against Killie. Ross Callachan, Paul McGinn, Callum Slattery, Jack Vale and Zach Robinson look set to miss out again.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston, Valle, Trusty, Carter-Vickers, McGregor, Engels, Bernardo, Maeda, Furuhashi, Yang.
Motherwell: Oxborough, Gordon, Wilson, Blaney, Seddon, Halliday, Paton, Kaleta, Miller, Maswanhise, Watt.
Anything else catch the eye?
Rodgers will demand a fast start after the poor display at Tannadice and I'm expecting Celtic to try to blow Motherwell away early on.
Over 1.5 first-half goals looks good at 10/11 with BoyleSports while tweaking that to over 1.5 Celtic goals in the first period boosts the odds to 13/10.
A flurry of second-half Celtic corners on Sunday brought up a bet for Mark and also one of our Sunday super singles. The Hoops are usually good value in that market and I fancy over five first-half corners here at 10/11 with Bet365.
This Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell will be played on Dec 26, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Celtic vs Motherwell prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
