Celtic will head into their Scottish Premiership encounter with Motherwell on Saturday knowing that another slip up will move rivals Rangers one step closer to winning the league title.
Both the Hoops and the Steelmen head into this fixture having won only two of their last seven games, with the two sides also bouncing back from league defeats to claim all three points in midweek.
Match preview
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Celtic responded to their disappointing 2-1 loss at home to St Mirren last weekend as they cruised to a 4-0 victory away at Kilmarnock on Tuesday.
A brace from Odsonne Edouard, as well as strikes from Scott Brown and Albian Ajeti, sealed their 15th Scottish Premiership win of the season, although the Bhoys remain a massive 23 points behind rivals Rangers at the summit.
With pressure mounting, manager Neil Lennon may be fortunate to be facing a Motherwell side who the Hoops have an impressive record against in recent years.
Indeed, Celtic are unbeaten in their last 16 league meetings with the Steelmen, winning each of the last seven in a row, scoring a combined 25 goals in the process.
However, the Hoops have won just one of their last four home league games and are hoping to avoid suffering successive home defeats on Saturday for the first time since May 2004 under former boss Martin O'Neill.
With two games in hand on both Rangers and third-placed Hibernian, victory for Celtic against Motherwell would consolidate second spot, moving them nine points clear of the Edinburgh outfit.
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Graham Alexander claimed back-to-back victories as Motherwell boss on Wednesday when his side secured a 2-1 home win against Dundee United.
Two goals in the first 28 minutes from Devante Cole and Chris Long helped the Steelmen secure all three points and moved them up to ninth in the table, two points clear of the bottom two.
Motherwell head into their clash with the Hoops having won just one of their last 22 away league games at Celtic Park, losing each of their last eight visits since a 2-1 win in December 2015 under former manager Mark McGhee.
With games against Kilmarnock and Hamilton – two sides struggling below them in the table – to come next week, claiming points at Celtic Park would provide a massive boost to Alexander's side, and a win could move them as high as seventh.
Celtic Scottish Premiership form: DDDWLW
Motherwell Scottish Premiership form: LDDLWW
Team News
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Goalkeeper Scott Bain has started each of the last three games for Celtic and is expected to get the nod once again ahead of Vasilis Barkas and Conor Hazard.
Striker Edouard, who has scored nine goals in 10 league appearances against Motherwell, is set to remain in the side in an attacking position.
Motherwell left-back Liam Grimshaw and midfielder Mark O'Hara remain sidelined due to illness, while goalkeepers Scott Fox and Trevor Carson continue to recover from their long-term injuries.
Defender Declan Gallagher, who missed the last game with Dundee United, is to be assessed before kickoff as he has been suffering with a muscle injury.
Cole – who has been directly involved in five goals in the last five league games, scoring four and providing one assist – is likely to remain in attack alongside Long and Tony Watt.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Kenny, Welsh, Ajer, Taylor; Brown; McGregor, Christie; Turnbull; Elyounoussi, Edouard
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; O'Donnell, Mugabi, Gallagher, Carroll; Campbell, Crawford, Maguire; Long, Cole, Watt
We say: Celtic 2-1 Motherwell
Motherwell pushed Rangers all the way in both of their encounters with the league leaders this season and despite a poor record against the Hoops, the Steelmen will believe that they can take advantage of Celtic's current inconsistent form. However, the home side should have enough quality in the final third to secure a narrow victory on Saturday.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
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 71.02%. A draw had a probability of 17.4% and a win for Motherwell had a probability of 11.54%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.12%) and 2-1 (9.55%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.25%), while for a Motherwell win it was 0-1 (3.57%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Celtic would win this match.
