Celtic start their SPFL title defence against the highlanders from Ross County at Parkhead on Saturday.
The Staggies will be hoping to improve on their opening day defeat at the same venue two seasons ago. This match represents the first time Ronny Deila takes to the field to witness the traditional unfurling of the champions flag as a title-winning manager. He was of course there last season, but did not feel part of the celebrations as it was Neil Lennon’s Celtic who had won the title.
A year later, it is Deila himself who is central to the success of the double-winning Celtic side from 2014-15 as well as a run in the Europa League ended by Internazionale. This season, Deila has come out and said the league is the priority. The sooner the league is wrapped up by the Bhoys, the sooner the focus can be on the holy grail – a treble.
Ross County, however, will look to spoil the Celtic party on the opening day and it cannot be underestimated just how different this side is to the one Celtic last faced. Changes have been made to the defence, notably with the six-month loan signing of young Stoke City goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann, who should be in line to make a debut in the biggest cauldron in Scottish football.
There will be no such debut for Celtic’s new number seven, Nadir Ciftci, who starts his suspension for biting tomorrow. This should allow for Leigh Griffiths, who many Celtic fans feel should start, to get his chance to show Deila why he should be leading the line permanently.
All expectation will be on Celtic to win and Deila will have to wrestle with whether or not to rest some players before the all-important second leg of the Champions League qualifier against FK Qarabag on Wednesday night. One or two players may be rested but the majority should be equipped to deal with a short turnaround.
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Ross County will set up to try and frustrate Celtic in the opening half-hour and if they keep it level until then, they may try to start catching Celtic on the counter. This is a tough ask, however. County leaked six goals to the Parkhead side last season and did not manage to score a single goal themselves.
The likelihood is that Celtic, buoyed by their biggest crowd of the season, will get their season off to a strong start with silky football that should allow for plenty of goalsoring opportunities.
Celtic should have enough to see off Ross County but it will be a difficult opening 25 minutes.
Prediction: Celtic 3 Ross County 1
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