CELTIC resume their Scottish Premiership title defence with a home game against Ross County on Saturday.
After defeating Old Firm foes Rangers 2-1 in the New Year derby, the Bhoys went into the winter break off the back of a 3-0 success at St Mirren.
That pair of victories means Brendan Rodgers’ side currently have a five point buffer over their city rivals, though the Teddy Bears could trim the arrears to just two points if they can triumph on Saturday lunchtime.
Celtic marked their return to domestic action last weekend with an inevitable 5-0 stroll to victory over Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup.
Ross County, in contrast, crashed out of the Scottish Cup courtesy of a 3-0 loss at home to Partick Thistle, in a game that justified my faith in the Jags to trouble their top tier hosts.
That body blow means Derek Adams’ 11th-placed side are now without a win in their last five matches in all competitions and things won’t get any easier in Glasgow’s east end this weekend.
Outright Betting
As expected, Celtic are short priced 1/10 (UniBet) favourites to make it five Scottish Premiership wins in succession.
Ross County collected a point in their most recent road match at Hearts but the same outcome here as big as 9/1 (PaddyPower) while a Staggies success at Celtic Park pays a whopping 25/1 (PaddyPower).
Betting Angles
With Celtic unbackable at the above-mentioned price, I’ll instead head to the anytime goalscorer market and back Kyogo Furuhashi to Score at 17/20 with William Hill.
Whilst Kyogo has not been particularly prolific in front of goal this term compared to recent seasons, a home game with Ross County represents a good opportunity for the Celtic striker to grab another goal.
What’s more, the Japanese sharpshooter has scored in each of the Hoops’ last three home games, one of which was a moment of magic against Old Firm rivals Rangers.
Therefore, it’s not as if Kyogo has completely lost his goal-scoring touch and he should get opportunities to strike against the out-of-sorts Staggies.
Confidence is likely to be low in the County camp following a 3-0 pasting from second tier Partick Thistle last Saturday, not to mention the visitors are without a clean sheet in their last four Scottish Premiership outings.
With all that in mind, I’m more than happy to back Kyogo Furuhashi to find the back of the net on Saturday afternoon at 17/20 with William Hill.
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I'm also going to have a small play on the aforementioned Kyogo Furuhashi to strike twice here at 9/2 with William Hill.
It could barely be a harder return to league action for ailing Ross County and Celtic's go-to goal-getter looks worthy of interest to bag a brace at a big price.
This Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Ross County will be played on Jan 27, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Celtic vs Ross County prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.