Meanwhile, the Dons head to Parkhead having lost 27 of their last 29 away league games against the Hoops, although they have avoided defeat in two of their last four visits.

Match preview

Celtic manager Neil Lennon pictured on January 2, 2021 © Reuters

Celtic claimed their fourth successive league victory after coming from behind to win 2-1 away at St Johnstone last weekend.

The hosts scored their first home goal against the Hoops since February 2017, when Shaun Rooney's header five minutes after half time broke the deadlock. However, a quickfire brace from Odsonne Edouard turned the game on its head, securing all three points for Neil Lennon's side.

Despite a recent upturn in form, Celtic chairman Ian Bankier has declared the club's review of performances is still ongoing, with Lennon's future at Parkhead remaining uncertain, although he has stated that the board will not make "hasty decisions".

The Hoops are 18 points behind rivals Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership, and have already been eliminated from both the Europa League and Scottish League Cup this campaign.

Celtic head into their clash with Aberdeen having lost just one of their last 17 league meetings against them. They have faced the Dons twice this season, drawing 3-3 on October 25, before winning 2-0 at Hampden Park in the Scottish Cup semi-final a week later.

Victory on Wednesday would be Celtic's 10th home triumph this term and would see the gap to the summit reduced to 15 points and the difference to third-placed Hibernian extended to the same margin.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes pictured in November 22, 2020 © Reuters

Aberdeen have yet to escape their current poor run of form, which is now building pressure on manager Derek McInnes, who has challenged his side to improve in the final third.

McInnes did however claim that Saturday's goalless draw at home to St Mirren was not a day to judge his misfiring side, as windy conditions were a big influence on the game with chances at a premium.

Earning just a point at Pittodrie means that Aberdeen have won just two of their last 11 league matches and have now extended their goalless run to five consecutive games.

The Dons have also failed to score in each of their last three away matches; the last time Aberdeen drew a blank in four successive league games on the road was back in September 2011 under former boss Craig Brown.

McInnes will be hoping that the deadline day signings of strikers Florian Kamberi, Fraser Hornby and Callum Hendry can provide a much-needed spark to spearhead the Dons in the right direction for the remainder of the season.

Ending their poor run of form with a win in midweek would see Aberdeen move one point behind Hibernian in third, although the Edinburgh outfit will have a game in hand.

Celtic Scottish Premiership form: WLWWWW

Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form: WDDLLD

Team News

Ryan Christie in action for Celtic on September 27, 2020 © Reuters

Celtic trio Stephen Welsh (ankle), Christopher Jullien (knee) and James Forrest (ankle) are all unavailable through injury, although both Welsh and Forrest could be back in training before the end of the month.

Midfielder Ryan Christie was recalled to the starting lineup that faced St Johnstone and he is expected to keep his place ahead of Albian Ajeti and Mohammed Elyounoussi.

Aberdeen defender Michael Devlin is still out of action with an ankle injury and Ryan Hedges is sidelined for the rest of the season with a muscle problem.

Centre-back Ash Taylor could be recalled to the starting lineup which may result in Niall McGinn dropping to the bench and Jonny Hayes moving to the left-wing.

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Kenny, Welsh, Ajer, Taylor; Brown, McGregor; Turnbull, Rogic, Christie; Edouard

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Hoban, Considine, Taylor; Kennedy, Campbell, Ferguson, McCrorie, Hayes; Kamberi, Hornby

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We say: Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen

Aberdeen will be keen to improve in the final third this weekend if they are to end their poor run of form, however they face a Celtic side who seem to have found their groove in recent weeks and should have enough quality to claim all three points on Wednesday.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting that at least one team will not score (BTTS - no) in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Celtic win with a probability of 61.15%. A draw had a probability of 22.6% and a win for Aberdeen had a probability of 16.28%.

The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.95%) and 2-1 (9.65%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.67%), while for an Aberdeen win it was 0-1 (5.9%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 13.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Celtic in this match.