POOR Parkhead performances are the reason why Celtic now find themselves sitting second in the SPFL Premiership and they can ill afford any more dropped points in the title race when a dangerous Dundee side come calling.
The Hoops dropped two more points in their last home game with Kilmarnock as David Watson's stoppage time leveller for Derek McInnes' side brought up a full house of tips for me.
Celtic Park was a fortress under Ange Postecoglou but Hearts, St Johnstone, Motherwell and Killie have all taken points off Brendan Rodgers' side in the East End of Glasgow this season.
The champions were seven points clear of Rangers when Philippe Clement replaced Michael Beale at Ibrox but they now trail by two points and their city rivals are showing precious little sign of slipping up.
It looked like the Hoops would fall four points adrift on Sunday when they were locked at 1-1 with Motherwell heading into stoppage time but Rodgers' side scored two late goals to salvage a victory after a much improved second-half display.
They now face a Dundee side who are having an excellent season after winning promotion, with the Dark Blues sitting in sixth place under new manager Tony Docherty.
McInnes' long-time No.2 is thriving as the main man in the dugout and Dundee will head to Glasgow in high spirits after winning two of their last three games.
They also came close to taking a point at Easter Road on Saturday, only for Myziane Maolida to score late on and condemn them to a 2-1 defeat. Now the Dens men will be looking to bounce back in the best possible way by putting a dent in Celtic's title hopes.
How the bookies view it
Despite their flaky recent form, Celtic remain red-hot favourites for this game at a best 1/5 with Bet365. Dundee are as big as 16/1 with Coral while the draw is pretty hefty as well at 6/1 with most firms.
Recent head to head
Celtic have won both games with Dundee pretty comfortably this season, following up a 3-0 victory at home in September by beating the Dark Blues by the same scoreline at Dens on Boxing Day. That made it eight successive Hoops wins in this fixture since a 0-0 draw in Glasgow back in 2018.
Players to watch
Celtic's comeback at Fir Park on Sunday was down to the introduction of Adam Idah as the substitute scored twice and gave the team a much-needed physical presence up front. That will surely earn the Norwich loanee a start for this game and he's 11/10 with William Hill for another goal.
Curtis Main has yet to score for Dundee but gave Celtic plenty of problems in his days with Motherwell and St Mirren. That might persuade Docherty to give him the nod for a start here and the striker is 7/1 at SkyBet for anytime scorer.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celtic haven't kept a clean sheet in their last four Premiership games while Dundee have scored in seven of their last eight so that suggest backing BTTS might be worth a shout at 21/20 with McBookie.
The six goals scored in this fixture so far this season have all come in the second half and backing most goals to come after the break in this one pays 20/21 at McBookie.
The corner stats were ridiculous when Celtic won at Dens Park, with the Hoops winning 23 flag kicks and conceding just one. I'd expect Korean kid Yang Hyun-jun to start on the right for Celtic after an impressive display off the bench and Sunday and his direct running could lead to plenty of corners here too. Over 11.5 match corners pays a decent 11/10 at Unibet while a corner inside the sixth minute is 10/11 with Bet365.
There hasn't been much aggro in this fixture this season with just two cards across the two games. Betting against both teams getting card could pay off at 13/8 with Bet365 while under 3.5 cards is 4/5 with the same firm.
This Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee will be played on Feb 28, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Celtic vs Dundee prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
