Dundee United will welcome Celtic to Tannadice Park on Monday when they compete in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, with each team hoping to find a place in the final four.
The Hoops have been dominant in the league this season, currently sitting first in the table, but the hosts are in good form as well, having only lost one of their previous eight outings.
Match preview
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Dundee United have showcased some strong performances as of late, and that type of confidence is going to be essential if they want to earn a place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
The Terrors have only lost one match in their previous eight, which is something that has helped them climb into seventh in the Scottish Premiership table.
They will also be pleased to have received a home draw in this match, as the Hoops have not lost at Celtic Park in the league, showcasing their confidence, and that could provide an advantage for Dundee United.
Tam Courts witnessed his team share the points with Hearts in their most recent outing, with Liam Smith and Nicky Clark both getting on the scoresheet in the 2-2 draw.
However, Dundee United will be aware of the fact that they were defeated in two of their three meetings against Celtic already this season, with the squad having failed to score in the last two matches.
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Ange Postecoglou's men have been in great form recently, despite being knocked out of the Europa Conference League they have not let that change their performances in Scotland.
Celtic have already won the Scottish League Cup this season, and sit top of the league, and the Hoops shall be hoping that they can continue fighting for the treble on Monday.
No club in history has won this competition more times than them, as they have lifted it 40 times over the years, with the last taking place back in 2020.
So far, Celtic have breezed through in the previous two rounds, scoring six times and only conceding once, which is the type of run that they will be hoping to continue here.
The Hoops head into this one on the back of a 3-1 victory against Livingston, with Daizen Maeda and James Forrest finding the back of the net alongside a Nicky Devlin own goal, and the squad shall be hoping to repeat that performance on Monday.
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Team News
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Dundee United have recently revealed that Peter Pawlett will be out for the entire season as he is set to undergo surgery for his Achilles injury.
Dylan Levitt is another player that the Terrors are having to cope without at the moment, as he has a muscular issue, while Calum Butcher has been filling in in the defence as of late, which should continue.
Celtic confirmed that David Turnbull will be returning to training soon, after his injury during the Scottish League Cup final, but Monday's match is going to come too soon for him.
However, the Hoops could look to give more game time to Giorgos Giakoumakis after he made a return last weekend from the bench after a knee injury, while Forest suffered an injury himself in that match, which makes him a doubt this time around.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Butcher, Edwards, Graham; Niskanen, Smith, McDonald, Harkes, McMann; McNulty, Clark
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor; McGregor, Bitton, Rogic; Abada, Jota, Giakoumakis
We say: Dundee United 1-2 Celtic
Dundee United will be hoping the home advantage shall help them on Monday as they compete against one of the strongest teams in Scotland for the right to play in the semi-finals.
However, the Hoops should have enough quality to progress into next stage of the competition, offering a lot of experience both offensively and defensively.
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 72.3%. A draw had a probability of 17.1% and a win for Dundee United had a probability of 10.58%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 0-2 with a probability of 12.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (10.73%) and 0-3 (9.56%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.14%), while for a Dundee United win it was 1-0 (3.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Celtic would win this match.
