Celtic's quest to defend the Scottish FA Cup will commence on Saturday as they compete in the fourth round.
It will be a David vs. Goliath story as the Hoops host Buckie Thistle, who are one of only three fifth-tier teams left in the competition.
Match preview
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After over a fortnight since their last game due to the winter break, Celtic will return to action in a bid to continue their impressive season as they kick-start their Scottish Cup campaign.
This is a competition that the club has enjoyed a lot of success in, as no team has won it more times than the Hoops, who claimed the trophy for the 43rd time last season by defeating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-1.
There should be no shortage of momentum for Celtic heading into this weekend despite the break, as Brendan Rodgers's men have won their last four matches.
The Hoops dominated St Mirren during their most recent outing, securing a 3-0 win courtesy of goals from Daizen Maeda, Matt O'Riley and Greg Taylor.
Attacking displays have been at the heart of everything Celtic have achieved this season, which is highlighted by the fact that no team has scored more than their 53 goals in the Scottish Premiership.
That is something that Buckie Thistle will be aware of heading into this weekend as they prepare to face the Hoops in a competitive match for the first time in their history.
Competing in Scotland's Highland Football League, the visitors will be enormous underdogs on Saturday as one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition, but that has not stopped upsets from happening in the past.
The Jags have been impressive in the tournament so far, starting in the first round with a 4-0 win against Tayport before knocking out Forres Mechanics with 10 men in the second round.
Graeme Stewart's men had to work hard to reach this stage though, as a Josh Peters brace brought them back from behind twice against Broxburn Athletic to take the game to penalties, where they earned the win.
The Jags boss has promised that his team will not be looking to just sit back and defend at Celtic Park this weekend, which should provide an entertaining game for the fans.
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Team News
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While Rodgers might traditionally look to rest some of his key players in the early stages of this competition, considering the team has not played in several weeks he may opt to focus on getting everyone back up to speed immediately with a stronger starting lineup.
There could be opportunities for younger players and fringe members of the squad from the bench later in the game, and Saturday could also be the time for Nicolas Kuhn to make his debut for the club after signing from Rapid Vienna.
Liel Abada and Reo Hatate were both starting to return from injury before the winter break, therefore this weekend could be used to get them back up and running at match speed from the first minute.
It could be a family affair at the weekend too as Buckie Thistle's third-round hero Peters might end up coming up against his cousin Stephen Welsh, but only if the Hoops defender can overcome his recent injury.
The Jags will be without Scott Adams this weekend after he was sent off in the third round, which will force at least one change to the team that started that game.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Johnston, Nawrocki, Scales, Taylor; McGregor, Hatate, O'Riley; Palma, Furuhashi, Abada
Buckie Thistle possible starting lineup:
Knight; Ramsay, McHardy, Murray, Munro; Wood, Pugh, Maciver, Barry, Goodall; Peters
We say: Celtic 4-0 Buckie Thistle
Cup upsets happen every year, and nothing is stopping Buckie Thistle from etching their names into the history books with a surprise victory this weekend.
However, a dominant victory for Celtic is expected considering the large gap between the teams in the football pyramid and the quality that the Hoops have to choose from.
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 88.15%. A draw had a probability of 7.9% and a win for Buckie Thistle had a probability of 3.94%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 3-0 with a probability of 10.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 4-0 (9.17%) and 2-0 (8.54%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (3.49%), while for a Buckie Thistle win it was 1-2 (1.28%). The actual scoreline of 5-0 was predicted with a 6.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Celtic would win this match.
