Celtic vs Motherwell. Scottish Premiership.
Celtic ParkAttendance57,817.
Friday 1 December 2017 20:44, UK
Celtic will be without Patrick Roberts when they face Motherwell for the third time in a week on Saturday.
The 20-year-old suffered a recurrence of a hamstring complaint in the 1-1 draw at Fir Park on Wednesday night, which came just days after Celtic beat Motherwell 2-0 in the Betfred Cup final.
The clubs complete the trilogy of games at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday amid controversies over penalty decisions, accusations of diving, missile-throwing from fans and complaints over tackles.
Motherwell were two minutes from avenging their Betfred Cup final defeat by beating Celtic on Wednesday, but a contentious penalty award allowed Scott Sinclair to extend the Hoops' unbeaten domestic run to 66 games.
When asked if it was important to wipe out the needle, Motherwell midfielder Allan Campbell said: "Sometimes you can use that as an advantage, a bit of fire between both teams. I think that's always good. I look forward to going into the game with a bit of battle in it.
"We've got a bit of fire in the belly and buzzing to go and get stuck in again, and hopefully get the win. That's the main thing, we want to beat them this time."
Manager Stephen Robinson was keen to stress the positives of their close encounters with Brendan Rodgers' side.
"It's a tough week, three games in six days against the champions, unbeaten in 66 games," Robinson said. "It's tough for a wee club like Motherwell. I read in the paper the other day the gap between us and Celtic is double the financial disparity of Celtic and PSG.
"The fact there's been so much publicity around it means they must have been decent games, they must have been competitive. Nobody's really spoken about that, the fact we took a point off the champions and were very unlucky not to get three points, and the final was very close up until the decision changed the game.
Robinson is "expecting nothing" to come from the club's quest for answers over two penalty awards for Celtic, but is wary that any contact in the box could cost them again.
Celtic striker Moussa Dembele (ankle) and midfielder Nir Bitton (knock) will be assessed ahead of the game, while right-back Anthony Ralston continues his recovery after a knee injury.
Motherwell have a full squad available, and the likes of Craig Tanner, Ryan Bowman and Liam Grimshaw could come into the starting line-up.
Motherwell are goalless in their last three league trips to Celtic Park (L3), conceding 11 goals in the process; in fact, they haven't kept a clean sheet there in the Scottish Premiership since a goalless draw in October 2009 (W1 D1 L13 since).
Celtic's 53-game league unbeaten run began with a 7-0 home win over Motherwell in May 2016; that result remains their biggest victory of the 45 they have enjoyed in this undefeated streak.
Motherwell have won three of their last four away league games (L1), as many as they had won in their previous 12 on the road (D3 L6).
After scoring a late penalty in the midweek meeting between these two sides, Scott Sinclair now has two goals in his three league games for Celtic against Motherwell.
Louis Moult bagged a brace the last time Motherwell beat Celtic in the league in December 2015 and has scored four goals in his last seven league outings against the Hoops for the Steelmen; only against Hamilton Academical (seven) and Ross County (five) has he scored more top-flight goals for Motherwell than against Celtic.
