Celtic and Aberdeen will go head to head in Sunday’s Betfred Cup Final in front of a sell out Hampden Park crowd. Both teams have been the dominant forces in Scottish football for the last three years now with Aberdeen seriously challenging Celtic for the league title. The rivalry between the two clubs has been longstanding and Sunday’s showpiece will be the 296th meeting between the clubs in their storied history with Celtic winning 77% of all encounters. It is, however, only the second time that the two have met in a league cup final- with the Dons winning in 1976 and Celtic winning in 1999.
Both teams have had very different routes to the final. Aberdeen started their campaign with a tight 2-1 win over championship side Ayr United before being forced to a replay with St Johnstone in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. In the return leg, Adam Rooney bagged a 90th-minute header in front of a packed Pittodrie to secure their place in the semi-final. Goals from Adam Rooney and Kenny Mclean were enough to sink a valiant Morton side in the next round and booked the Dons their place in the final.
Celtic have also looked impressive throughout the tournament and reached the final without conceding a goal. A comprehensive 5-0 victory over Motherwell in the opening match was followed by a frustrating night at Celtic Park as a dogged League 1 Alloa Athletic held the Scottish Champions for 80 minutes before goals from James Forrest and Moussa Dembele sealed the win. Victory over Alloa set up a tantalising Old Firm semi-final against rivals Rangers with Celtic progressing to the final with an 88th-minute winner from Moussa Dembele.
Bookmakers and pundits have Celtic as the clear favourites to win this Sunday’s final. Against Scottish opposition, Celtic are yet to be beaten, tallying up 11 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses from their first 12 Premiership games. Aberdeen, on the other hand, trail Celtic by 10 points having played one match more and have recorded 7 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats in the league this season. The two clubs have already met each other twice this season, with Celtic running out 4-1 winners at Celtic Park in August before grinding out a 1-0 victory at Pittodrie at the end of October.
Both sides have talented players who can trouble each other in what should be a real spectacle for Scottish Football. Brendan Rodgers has strengthened his squad considerably in the summer, bringing in an abundance of talent and experience. Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele have netted 26 goals between them this season and are the top two goal scorers in Scotland at the moment. Moreover, Celtic have also improved their defence with Kolo Toure adding some much-needed experience to compliment the talented young defenders Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko who were already at the club. The defence has performed well this season, resulting in Celtic recording a clean sheet against Scottish opposition in the last 7 matches.
Aberdeen will have a full squad to choose from this Sunday and will be confident that they have the depth and quality to win the cup. The Dons head to Hampden in good form on the back of two wins away from home. Although Derek McInnes has opted to play him less this season, Adam Rooney still possesses a goal threat with 8 goals for the season. New loan signing James Maddison has also shown glimpses of real class since his arrival from Norwich City and has 2 goals and 3 assists from 6 starts shows. Maddison also has the ability to score or create from nothing- as seen by his last-minute free kick against Rangers earlier on in the season. Defensively, Aberdeen are very hard to break down and have recorded 8 clean sheets from their opening 17 games.
We are truly set for a mouth-watering contest this Sunday with both teams eager to pick up the first domestic silverware of the season. Celtic may be favourites in the eyes of the bookmakers but as the old cliché goes “the formbook goes out the window in these types of games.” The only thing that can be guaranteed is that we should expect a fiery affair with plenty of top class football on show.
Blog by Sam Stewart for 360 Sports Consultancy