MY ACCOUNT
– Liel Abada has scored six goals in six league appearances against Dundee United, including four in two this season
– Dundee United have conceded 16 goals in their last four home league games against Celtic
– Recommended Bet: Back Liel Abada to score anytime
After correctly predicting Crystal Palace and Newcastle to draw last weekend, Simon Barlow picks out the best best for Celtic’s trip to Sundee United.
Dundee United will be out to show Celtic that they cannot be rolled over quite as easily a second time when they host the champions at Tannadice Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Terrors went down 9-0 to Ange Postecoglu’s side in August during an awful month when they lost five straight games and conceded 24 goals.
United have since climbed off the bottom of the table under Liam Fox, who has rebuilt the team’s brittle confidence levels after taking over from Jack Ross following that drubbing.
Celtic will arrive on Tayside looking to extend their unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership to 16 matches.
The Hoops have won four straight home matches since they last hit the road to claim a 2-2 draw with Old Firm rivals Rangers at the turn of the year.
Team news
Having rung the changes for United’s Scottish Cup win over Stirling University in midweek, Fox is expected to revert back to the line-up that battled for a 2-2 draw at Hibernian last weekend.
That is likely to mean Charlie Mulgrew, who played the full 90 minutes after a spell on the sidelines, returns to the bench.
MIdfielder Archie Meekison and goalkeeper Carljohan Eriksson have left the club on loan this week, joining Falkirk and Norsjaelland respectively.
Celtic boss Postecoglou went stronger than expected for the Scottish Cup tie with Greenock Morton, but changes will be made for this fixture.
Jota, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley should all come back into the starting XI, while recent signing Yuki Kobayashi is in line for a third straight start in central defence.
The stats
The Hoops are on a 12-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, and a 15-match run when only including fixtures in the top flight.
Postecoglu’s side scored eight goals in 41 minutes during Celtic’s thrashing of Dundee United in August.
Celtic’s 9-0 win at Tannadice Park matched the score from their win over Aberdeen 2010-11 and was the biggest away victory in the competition’s history, surpassing their own 8-1 triumph at Dunfermline in 2005-06.
United playmaker Glenn Middleton heads into this fixture having scored in successive matches.
Prediction
Celtic demonstrated their superiority over the Terrors when they last visited Tannadice Park, but the hosts have improved since.
Liam Fox’s side were much more competitive when they visited Parkhead in November and were not far away from claiming an unlikely 2-2 draw against the champions.
They will take heart from some recent solid showings and could hold out for long periods — as they showed against Rangers recently.
But Celtic’s class should tell and two players, in particular, could make the difference on Sunday.
Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada have given Dundee United major problems in this fixture over the past two seasons.
The Japanese striker got a hat-trick in the 9-0 romp and grabbed the winner at Parkhead last November while Abada has also matched that tally of four goals across the two games.
The Israel international winger has struck six times in his six league appearances against the Taysiders and looks good to add to his eight-goal Premiership tally at the weekend.
