Scottish Premiership
Celtic vs Hamilton Academical – Match Preview
Action resumes in the Scottish Premiership this weekend, and it will be a battle between the giants and minnows when Hamilton Academical and Celtic renew rivalry at the New Douglas Park on Saturday afternoon just a fortnight after their last meeting.
Celtic are right on top of the league having won 16 games and drawn 1 of all 17 fixtures, while the hosts are down in 9th place in the bottom 6 having won just 2, drawn 10 and lost 6 in 18.
Another win for the Hoops against the Accies will see them extend their gap over 2nd placed Rangers to 17 points, and despite having 20 games still to go before the end of the season, winning their 4th title is almost certain.
Team News
Hamilton
Defender Gillespie is out of the match through suspension, while forward Greg Docherty, is unavailable having broken his foot against Rangers last time out.
Gramoz Kurtaj, Danny Seaborne and Remi Matthews are all out injured and won’t return to action until next year.
Celtic
Kieran Tierney recently returned to training following ankle’s and shoulder’s surgeries. He won’t be available for selection until 2017 as his recuperation process continues.
Forrest should be making the matchday squad on Saturday having been declared fit and could be involved in the game.
Meanwhile, Tom Rogic is still out due to an ankle knock and isn’t set to return until the next matchday if he attains full recovery as scheduled.
Predicted Line-ups
Hamilton
3-5-2
Gary Woods
Georgios Sarris; Scott McMann; Danny Seaborne
Alistair Crawford; Darian MacKinnon; Dougie Imrie; Massimo Donati; Rakish Bingham
Alexandre D’Acol; Lewis Longridge
Celtic
4-2-3-1
Craig Gordon
Erik Sviatchenko; Jozo Simunovic; Mikael Lustig; Callum McGregor
Patrick Roberts; Scott Brown
Stuart Armstrong; Leigh Griffiths; Mackay Steven
Moussa Dembele
Statistics
Celtic have won 13 of the 16 matches both teams have played against each other in the league, suffering only 2 draws and just one defeat.
Hamilton have won just 2 home fixtures this season, losing 3 and drawing the other 4.
Celtic have scored 39 goals against Hamilton Academical in all 16 meetings, and have only conceded 8 against the visitors.
Hamilton have scored 5 goals against Celtic at home, and have lost 5 of all 7 Scottish Premiership games at home against Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Final Prediction
The game should be another walk in the park for Celtic considering the huge gulf in quality between the sides. Though Hamilton gave a good fight the last time out and didn’t allow themselves to be played off the park away from home, taking just a goal to down them in a tough clash, the tides could turn this time, a complete mauling could happen.
It should also give Dembele a chance to add more goals to his already impressive goal tally considering how porous the hosts are at the back having shipped 25 goals.
Final Predicted Scores
Hamilton 0 Celtic 2