THE pain of Old Firm defeat will have lingered for Celtic during the winter break so they will be determined to get back on track with a Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle in another Glasgow derby.
Neil Lennon's side headed into the clash with Rangers hoping home advantage would help them open up an eight-point lead going into the January shutdown.
Instead they lost 2-1 to their bitter rivals and the Ibrox side can now overtake them at the Premiership summit by winning their game in hand.
But the Hoops can take some comfort by looking at last season, where they recovered from a loss at Ibrox just before the winter break to win 11 domestic games in a row.
The first of those was a 3-0 win over lower-league Airdrie in the Cup and a Partick side stuck at the wrong end of the Championship shouldn't cause them too much problems here.
Ian McCall's men have won just one of their last four games and staying up is the priority for the Jags this season so don't expect a Cup shock.
How the bookies view it
Partick are 40/1 rank outsiders with Coral while even the draw is as big as 14/1 with Bet365. Celtic offer no value at a best 1/12 with Boylesport but a Hoops win to nil is better at 11/13 with Sportingbet. Lennon's side to be winning at half-time and full-time is sadly a best 1/4 with Ladbrokes.
Recent head to head
These sides faced off in the League Cup earlier this season and the Hoops eased to a 5-0 win at Parkhead despite leaving out several key players.
The last meeting at Firhill was much closer, with Celtic needing two late goals to seal a 3-1 triumph in another League Cup tie in August 2018 (below).
The Parkhead side have won on their last 17 trips to Maryhill, since a 0-0 stalemate back in 1995. Partick Thistle's last win over the Glasgow giants was a 3-1 triumph at Hampden in the same year.
Players to watch
I tipped Odsonne Edouard to score against Rangers last time out and he delivered, although the Frenchman knew little about it as Callum McGregor's shot hit off him to wrong-foot Allan McGregor.
But the odds on Edouard are too short at 1/3 with Paddy Power, especially as there are rumours that Leigh Griffiths could get the nod to start. Instead, try Tom Rogic or Olivier Ntcham who are battling it out to replace the injured Ryan Christie.
Both scored in that 5-0 League Cup win at the start of the season but they have rarely been unleashed in tandem. The Aussie (below) is 13/10 with Paddy Power for anytime scorer while the Frenchman is 7/4 with the same firm. Go for whoever is handed a starting jersey.
Kenny Miller loved a goal against the Hoops in his Rangers days and is probably Partick's biggest goal threat even at 39. He's 13/2 with Paddy Power for another strike in this tie.
Anything else catch the eye?
I wouldn't be surprised if this was similar to that Cup tie with Airdrie a year ago so a three-goal winning margin for Celtic appeals at 15/4 with Bet365.
The Hoops should come out firing straight from kick off so I like the look of the 15/8 Coral are offering on them being ahead after 15 minutes.
This Scottish Cup match between Partick Thistle and Celtic will be played on Jan 18, 2020 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Partick Thistle vs Celtic prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
