Weekend Match Preview: Kilmarnock vs Celtic

Celtic appears to be a consistently powerful team again, following their victories over Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final and RB Leipzig 3-1 in the Champions League. While Brendan Rodgers may not have fully persuaded some observers last season, despite ultimately securing the league title, his squad’s recent impressive displays are helping to dismiss negative comparisons to Celtic under former manager Ange Postecoglou. Despite a 7-1 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund, the team has recovered from this setback, remaining unbeaten in seven subsequent matches. Although this run included a two-goal comeback by Aberdeen resulting in a draw at Celtic Park, it has led to Celtic’s two most notable performances of the current season. Furthermore, it has been 25 domestic games since their last loss, which occurred against Hearts at Tynecastle in March. They will travel to Rugby Park on Sunday, having secured victories in all five of their away league matches this season. Celtic achieved a comfortable 4-0 victory when Kilmarnock visited Glasgow in August and delivered a 5-0 defeat to secure the title during their previous visit to Ayrshire in May. These results indicate that Derek McInnes’ team may not present significant opposition on this occasion. Nevertheless, Kilmarnock has remained undefeated in their last four home fixtures and may draw confidence from their most recent match at Rugby Park. In that game, a single goal secured a win against the other Old Firm club, intensifying pressure on Rangers manager Philippe Clement and positioning McInnes as the leading contender in bookmakers’ odds to potentially succeed the Belgian manager. In fact, Celtic experienced defeats in their two other visits last season—one in the Premiership and another in the League Cup—and were also held to a draw by Kilmarnock at Celtic Park. The upcoming match could potentially deliver an exciting spectacle.