CELTIC have done well to keep Premiership pace with Rangers during a demanding run of fixtures but this midweek trip to Dingwall to face Ross County is a potential banana skin.
Injuries have hit the Hoops squad hard and James Forrest became the latest crocked forward when he was forced to limp out of Sunday's 1-0 win over Motherwell.
Ange Postecoglou had to field midfielder David Turnbull as a false nine in that game after strikers Kyogo Furuhashi and Albian Ajeti pulled up with hamstring injuries in the Europa League win over Real Betis.
Furuhashi's injury isn't as bad as first feared but the Japanese star won't feature against County with a League Cup Final against Hibs looming at the weekend.
Playmaker Tom Rogic scored the only goal against Well to bring up my scorer bet but Celtic missed a series of chances and it's unlikely they will get away with being so wasteful in the Highlands.
Ross County may be sitting second bottom of the Premiership but their recent form has been good and the Staggies have drawn just one blank in their last eight games.
They scored three on Saturday to claim a massive win over Dundee and also netted twice in a 4-2 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox so this is a tricky hurdle for the Hoops.
How the bookies view it
Celtic are heavy favourites despite all those injuries and their best price is just 9/25 with Novibet. Ross County are as big as 17/2 with the Coral and even the draw pays 19/4 at Mansionbet.
Recent head to head
Ross County inflicted two damaging defeats on the Hoops last term and played a big part in Neil Lennon getting the sack. They won 2-0 at Celtic Park to end Celtic's run of 35 cup ties without defeat then claimed a 1-0 Premiership victory in Dingwall that finally brought the axe down on Lennon (below).
But nine of the last 11 meetings have ended in victories for the Parkhead side, including a 3-0 Premiership win in Glasgow earlier this season.
Players to watch
Watford loanee Joseph Hungbo has impressed for County and his long-range shooting makes him a dangerous weapon. The Englishman scored at Ibrox and is overpriced at 7/1 with McBookie for anytime scorer.
Josip Juranovic is Celtic's penalty taker and that always makes him worth a punt for anytime scorer. The bookies had him as big as 14/1 earlier in the season but that price has dropped after seeing his prowess from the spot. The full-back is still 9/2 at Coral for anytime scorer though and that looks a great price.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celtic have the best defensive record in the Premiership but still take lots of risks at the back so I fancy free-scoring County to score here.
Both teams to score pays 6/7 at SportNation but over 2.5 goals is much shorter at just 4/7 with Bet365. So it might be better backing over 1.5 first-half goals as that pays 25/19 at SBK.
County's Harry Paton has picked up four yellows this season so could be worth backing for a card if he recovers from a head knock to start. The midfielder is 5/2 with Bet365 to be carded.
This Scottish Premiership match between Ross County and Celtic will be played on Dec 15, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Ross County vs Celtic prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
