Under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers, Celtic will begin their defence of the Scottish Premiership title when Ross County visit Parkhead on Saturday.
The Bhoys clinched their 11th top-flight title in 12 years last season, while the Staggies avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth.
Match preview
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To say that Celtic dominated the Scottish Premiership last term would be a colossal understatement, as the Glasgow giants suffered only three defeats in 38 matches, picking up 32 wins and three draws on their way to securing a second successive title.
Better still, the Bhoys scored a whopping 114 league goals last season, averaging exactly three goals per game, and they also finished the campaign with the best defensive record in the division, having conceded on just 34 occasions.
After guiding Celtic to five trophies in two years, Ange Postecoglou left Parkhead to join Tottenham Hotspur in June, opening the door for Brendan Rodgers to return to the club following a four-year spell at Leicester City.
Between 2016 and 2019, Rodgers led Celtic to two Scottish Premierships, two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups, sealing a famous "double treble" by winning all three domestic trophies in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Having overseen three wins, two draws and one loss in six pre-season friendlies – including victories over Portimonense, Gamba Osaka and Athletic Bilbao – Rodgers will be hopeful of enjoying another successful era at the club.
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By contrast, Ross County finished second from bottom in the Premiership table last term, meaning that Malky Mackay's side had to battle it out with the winner of the Championship playoffs for a top-flight berth in 2023-24.
Thankfully for the Staggies, they managed to fend off Partick Thistle and retain their top-flight status for another season, recovering from a 2-0 defeat in the first leg to level the tie at 3-3 before eventually triumphing 5-4 on penalties.
It is fair to say that Ross County deserved to finish second from bottom – three points above automatically-relegated Dundee United – as they managed to win just nine of their 38 league outings last season, recording seven draws and 22 losses in the process.
On top of that, only one team – Livingston – scored fewer goals than Ross County's 37 last term, while only three sides – Dundee United, Kilmarnock and St Mirren – conceded more goals than the Dingwall outfit's 60.
Mackay's men have already kicked off their 2023-24 campaign, notching League Cup victories over Stranraer, Morton and Edinburgh City to take control of Group D, although they suffered a penalty shootout defeat against third-tier side Kelty Hearts last time out.
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Team News
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Celtic have lost a couple of key players this summer, with Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy hanging up his boots and Portuguese winger Jota joining Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad in a £25m deal.
On the flip side, the Glasgow giants have raided the Asian market once again, signing Kwon Hyeok-kyu and Yang Hyun-jun from South Korea while bringing in Tomoki Iwata from Japan.
Iwata joins countrymen Yuki Kobayashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi at Parkhead, with the latter scoring 34 goals in 50 games across all competitions last term.
In terms of injuries, Celtic look set to start the season without right-back Alistair Johnston, striker Albian Ajeti and midfielder James McCarthy, who last featured for the club back in November 2022.
Ross County have also been busy in the transfer market this summer, signing Josh Reid from Coventry City and James Brown from Blackburn Rovers, with Alex Iacovitti and Keith Watson leaving on free transfers.
However, the Staggies will be without the injured duo of Ross Callachan and Ben Paton for the foreseeable future as the midfielders continue to recover from knee issues.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor; Iwata, McGregor, O'Riley; Abada, Furuhashi, Maeda
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Baldwin, Nightingale, Harmon; Brown, Randall, Loturi, Sims; Dhanda; White, Murray
We say: Celtic 3-0 Ross County
Having dominated proceedings throughout the previous campaign, Celtic look set to kick off their Premiership title defence with a comfortable victory over Ross County, who narrowly avoided relegation last season.
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Top tip
Ben Morris
