CELTIC were brought well and truly crashing down to earth in midweek after a monumental Champions League mauling in Germany by Borussia Dortmund.
And it's back to their bread and butter on Sunday when they lick their wounds in the Highlands at Ross County.
The Scottish champions had been absolutely flying this season, but manager Brendan Rodgers seemed to be unaware it was the Champions League runners-up they were playing away and not St Johnstone after setting his team out with exactly the same tactics.
Inverted full backs and the likes tend to work well in Scotland, but when they, along with their entire team, are asked to actually asked to defend, it's a recipe for disaster and Rodgers rightly took plenty of criticism after yet another Champions League thumping.
However, domestically Celtic continue to look untouchable as was illustrated by the six goals they hammered in at Perth before the ill-fated trip to Germany.
They face a Ross County side who came within seconds of winning at Hearts last week and are strong at home, having defeated Dundee and coming within a few seconds of drawing with Aberdeen.
How the bookies view it: Celtic to bounce back in style
Celtic are as short as 1/8 in places, but Ladbrokes have stuck their necks out…by offering up 2/11.
County can be backed at 16/1 with William Hill and the draw is 8/1 with UniBet.
Recent head to heads: 11 in a row for the Hoops
Since the Staggies pulled off a famous 1-0 win in February 2021, it's been one-way traffic with Celtic winning all 11 games since then.
Players to watch: Idah to get nod?
Ronan Hale has been a revelation with County so far with six goals in ten games. He is a tempting 4/1 to score anytime with bet365 after landing our bet at Tynecastle last week.
Adam Idah missed a great chance for a consolation in Dortmund, but he did more in his cameo role than an anonymous performance from Kyogo Furuhashi and he might have earned a start. He is 5/6 to score anytime with Paddy Power.
Predicted line-ups:
Ross County are expected to be without defenders George Harmon, Ricki Lamie and Josh Reid.
Celtic badly missed Cameron Carter-Vickers in Germany and he's not expected to not make this weekend either. Alastair Johnston has a back knock.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Campbell, Wright, Lopata, Leak, Efete, Nisbet, Randall, Chilvers, Hale, White.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate, Engels, Kuhn, Idah, Maeda.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celtic are highly likely to prove once again the gulf between themselves and the rest of Scottish football is as high as the gulf between themselves and the cream of European football.
They will be up for this after a chastising week and should be able to outclass County comfortably, despite the hosts having a good home record.
You can expect Celtic to come bursting out of the traps here and the 13/8 with Paddy Power on them to score two goals or more in the first half could be value.
County have already been crushed 6-0 by Rangers at Hampden and while they are far better at home, this could be a very difficult afternoon for the Staggies.
Take Celtic to win minus two goals on the handicaps at 13/10 also with Paddy Power.
This Scottish Premiership match between Ross County and Celtic will be played on Oct 6, 2024 and kick off at 12:00. 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.
