Celtic vs Ross County Prediction: 9/2 anytime scorer shot take our fancy

Celtic play their second game of the week at Parkhead, following Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Club Brugge in the Uefa Champions League. Will Brendan Rodgers’ side enter with tired legs and a European hangover, or will the Premiership champions continue to dominate?

The hosts are red-hot betting favourites at Betfred to bag a 12th Premiership win in 13 games. Will they live up to expectations? Our Scottish football writer, Frank Monkhouse, previews the action and offers his Celtic vs Ross County predictions, including a pick at great odds for the Saturday afternoon kick-off...

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Celtic started the week sitting on top of the Scottish Premiership table after a dozen games played. The defending champions set the pace thanks to 11 wins and one draw, with 35 goals scored and four conceded.

The Hoops are the only unbeaten team left in the division, have scored ten goals more than their nearest rivals, and boast the tightest defence by at least five goals heading into the weekend.

Ross County make the marathon trip to Glasgow, sitting down in eighth place with 14 games under their belt. The Staggies bring stats of three wins, six draws, and five defeats, with 12 goals scored and 22 conceded.

A 15-point tally means County are already six points clear of the relegation zone and just three behind a spot in the top six. Few Staggies fans expect their team to upset the champions at Parkhead but remain hopeful of a top-six finish.

Celtic vs Ross County Odds

From 3:00pm on Saturday at Celtic Park, we have a meeting of a home champion in pole position to defend their title and a visitor that narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship last season and won only one of their previous four in this competition. Therefore, there are no surprises in the pre-match betting odds available at Betfred, with the locals attracting attention.

Fancy Celtic to get the win and take a step closer to retaining the league title? They’re already miles clear of a hapless Rangers in third and ahead of second-placed Aberdeen.

You can back the home win at 1/14 or try your luck on the visitors spoiling the party at 22/1. Just one goal separated these teams in each of their last two meetings, and a draw may appeal at 17/2. All odds quoted are available on the Betfred website and mobile app and are correct at the time of writing.

Converting these prices into implied odds, it suggests our traders think that Celtic have a 92% chance of winning the game outright. The draw is rated as an 11% chance of happening and that big shock away win, only going to happen 4% of the time.

Celtic win to nil

As you can see in the previous section, there’s little reason to back Celtic in the match-winner market, as they are incredibly tight. That comes as no surprise, given their faultless domestic form and impressive results in Europe’s elite competition. That means we must search for the value and browse the various specials available at Betfred.

Aiming for a higher price, we pick Celtic to win to nil, taking confidence from the head-to-head stats and the form of both sides.

Backing Celtic to win to nil would’ve earned you a profit in two of the last three renewals of this fixture. Celtic also beat Kilmarnock and Aberdeen without conceding last month. Ross County are now in the firing line, and we back the home side to collect all three points without fuss.

Alistair Johnston to score

Taking a stab at an anytime scorer bet for small stakes, we collect the value on Alistair Johnston to find the net. The Canadian-born defender appeals after scoring the leveler in a 2-1 win for Celtic in Dingwall earlier this season.

The same man also opened the scoring when his side battled to a 1-0 win when County were last in town, finding the net inside the opening 60 seconds of play.

A goal in each of his last two games against Saturday’s opponents is enough to catch my eye and encourage a bet. Will Johnston make it three goals in three games against the Staggies?

He scored in back-to-back games against Motherwell and Dundee in late October, and his odds make him a worthwhile play. Let’s hope he continues to get forward and create chances. We already know he has the quality to chip in with goals.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...