Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic will travel to Firhill Stadium tonight to take on struggling Partick Thistle who will be looking for their first win in five games. Celtic maintained their unbeaten record in domestic competitions with a late comeback win against Motherwell last week. It seemed like Celtic’s unbeaten record was coming to an end but the Bhoys showed great character to bounce back from 2 goals down to win the game in the final minute thanks to a thunderous strike from Aussie playmaker Tom Rogic.
Alan Archibald’s Partick Thistle have taken just one point from their last four games, a poor run that has seen them slip to 11th in the standings, having collected eight points from their previous four. The two teams will meet each other for the first time this season. They were supposed to meet on August 13, but it was postponed because of Celtic’s involvement in the International Champions Cup.
Celtic had to bid European football goodbye from the group stage of the Champions League but their midweek result was an impressive 1-1 draw against mighty Manchester City. The Hoops will be all fired up for the encounter, though.
Team news
Partick Thistle
Gary Fraser, Ryan Scully, Mustapha Dumbuya and Stuart Bannigan are all missing through injuries for the hosts.
Celtic
James Forrest is the newly featured star in the injury list of the Hoops. The Scotland international went off with a tight hamstring during the Champions League draw with Manchester City on Tuesday. Scott Sinclair, Kris Commons and Kieran Tierney are missing through injuries.
Predicted lineups
Partick Thistle (3-5-2): Cerny; Barton, Gordon, Lindsay; Elliot, Osman, Edwards, Welsh, Booth; Azeez, Doolan
Celtic (4-2-3-1): Gordon; Lustig, Sviatchenko, Simunovic, Izaguirre; Brown, Armstrong; Roberts, Rogic, McGregor; Dembele
Key players
Partick Thistle: Kris Doolan
Thistle forward Kris Doolan will be a big threat against Celtic on Friday night. He has scored three goals from 13 Premiership games this season, setting up one for his teammates as well. The 29-year-old’s aerial ability will definitely test Celtic’s defence.
Celtic- Stuart Armstrong
Armstrong has been excellent of late for Celtic in an unnatural central midfield. Rodgers has preferred him ahead of Bitton recently for his attacking qualities and he has hardly let his boss down. 4 goals and 4 assists from 10 Premiership games- the 24-year-old has been impressive of late and he will be looking to continue that.
Odds
Partick Thistle win @11/1
Draw @11/2
Celtic win @3/10
