Aberdeen vs Celtic Prediction: Managerless Dons no match for Bhoys

A packed Scottish Premiership card begins at Pittodrie, where Aberdeen host Celtic in their first game since sacking manager Barry Robson. Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse offers his preview and predictions…

Welcome to the opening weekend of February and the first round of fixtures since the January transfer window closed on Thursday. The action begins in the Granite City, where managerless Aberdeen hosts champions and Premiership leaders Celtic from 12:30 pm in a game broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The hosts hope to bounce back from Robson's shock departure, with many players feeling they have a point to prove. Celtic were booed all the way down the tunnel despite beating Ross County 1-0 last weekend, with some sections of the support demanding more from Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys. Will they improve to score a convincing win at Pittodrie?

Team News

Aberdeen is in a sorry state, with the club starting down in eighth place in the Premiership. Their stats for the season so far show six wins, six draws, and nine defeats, scoring 24 goals and conceding 33. Only three teams have scored fewer goals than Aberdeen this season, and they’re all involved in a relegation battle. The Dons have also conceded more than second-bottom Ross County.

Celtic is at the top of the league and enjoys a long winning run. Victory in Saturday’s early afternoon kick-off would see them extend their lead over nearest rivals Rangers to eight points, at least until Gers play bottom club Livingston at Ibrox from 3:00 pm. Celtic played three and won three in January, scoring nine goals and conceding none. Confidence is high in the away dressing room, but fans demand entertainment, and frustrations remain following an underwhelming winter transfer window when the club added just two players.

Aberdeen vs Celtic Odds

Pre-match betting odds are available to all Betfred customers using the website or mobile app. With Aberdeen’s poor recent form - winning just one of their last five - and Celtic topping the league thanks to 18 wins and three draws from 23 games, there’s no surprise to see traders go hard on the away win.

You can back Celtic to live up to expectations by taking all three points back to Glasgow at the 4/11 currently available at Betfred. Those who expect Aberdeen to respond to losing Robson with an overdue home win can back the Dons at 13/2 while the draw trades at 18/5.

Celtic win @ 4/11

Celtic were far from convincing in that narrow win over relegation-threatened Ross County at Parkhead last week. Some fans were angry and made their feelings obvious at full-time, but it’s almost impossible to criticise the leader’s form. They’re top of the league, on an impressive winning streak, and won the New Year Old Firm, inflicting a first loss on Rangers manager Phillipe Clement.

The Bhoys also have a fine record in this part of the country, winning 3-1 when visiting Pittodrie back in the summer. Goals from Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Matt O’Riley won the day. Celtic followed that routine away win with a stunning 6-0 home victory over the Dons in November with five different scorers. That makes the champions easy to trust against an Aberdeen side that lost its last away game 2-0 at Tynecastle.

Celtic win to nil @ 7/5

Backing Celtic to beat Aberdeen is a bet best suited to your weekend accumulators, as the price is tight but fair. Looking for something bigger or good enough to back as a single? We always aim to provide, and this week, we suggest backing Celtic to beat Aberdeen without conceding a goal, something they’ve had no problems achieving in recent meetings with Saturday’s opponents.

Flicking through the head-to-head stats and recent form of both clubs, we note Aberdeen has scored just one goal in their previous six games against Celtic, with the aggregate score stuck at 1-21 in the Bhoys’ favour. Back Celtic to win to nil at 7/5 and hope the locals come up short again.

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...