Celtic suffered a chastening 7-1 defeat away at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night, conceding as many goals in that game as they had in their last 14 Premiership games combined.
Their expected goals against in Dortmund was 2.64 which is more than they have faced in their six Premiership games this season (2.54).
In conceding seven goals, Kasper Schmeichel let in two more goals than he had in his previous nine Champions League appearances combined. The Champions League has proven to be a much tougher assignment for The Hoops with nearly as many goals conceded in the Champions League (23) as in the Premiership (30) since Brendan Rodgers returned to the club at the start of last season.
Celtic will look to put that performance behind them as quickly as possible and it’s a return to domestic football this Sunday with a trip to Ross County live on Sky Sports.
The Bhoys are top of the Premiership with a 100 per cent record. It is the 12th time that they have won their first six games with three of those occasions coming in the last six seasons.
What makes this different to the recent examples is that they are yet to concede a goal which has matched their club record set in 1906/07 and leaves them one clean sheet shy of equalling Rangers’ record of seven successive top division clean sheets from the start of season set under Steven Gerrard in 2020/21.
Schmeichel has replaced Joe Hart as Celtic’s first choice goalkeeper and has impressed by bringing a calming authority to the defensive unit.
He is only the second goalkeeper in Scottish top division history to keep six successive clean sheets from the start of the season, matching Thomas Sinclair who was loaned to the Bhoys by Rangers due to an injury to first choice ‘keeper Davie Adams just two days before of the start of the 1906/07 season. Sinclair didn’t concede in any of his six league appearances for the club before returning to Rangers.
Schmeichel will be confident of setting a new benchmark this weekend with another clean sheet at Ross County. The Dane has faced just 10 shots on target in his six Premiership games to date with Celtic’s expected goals against standing at just 2.54.
Celtic have won their last two trips to Dingwall to nil and didn’t face a shot on target in the last meeting there, a 3-0 win in November 2023. They also had 39 shots, their most in any league game since the Premiership came into being in 2013, and 54 touches in the opposition box which has added to the stats for what has been a one-sided contest in the last five meetings at Dingwall.
A Celtic win at Ross County will help lift the midweek gloom and keep an impressive Aberdeen at bay. The Reds have also started the season with six wins from six and have a five-point advantage over third-placed Rangers.
For The Dons it is just the second time in their history that they have started a season so well and they will aim to emulate Derek McInnes’ class of 2015/16 who won their first eight Premiership games as they finished as runners-up to Celtic.
Jimmy Thelin’s side are the most improved team this season and are 13 points better off than at the same stage last season. Indeed, it took them until just before Christmas and 16 games to reach as many points last season as they have already accumulated from their first six games.
It’s remarkable that Aberdeen could make it seven wins from seven at home to Hearts on Sunday yet still not finish the weekend on top but, as former manager Sir Alex Ferguson once said, ‘Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles’ and it’s Celtic’s back line that’s driving their title defence.
The Bhoys will be buoyed in the knowledge that only once in the last 17 Scottish top division seasons has the team with the best defensive record not won the title.
You can see if Celtic’s defence can hold out again and maintain their perfect start to the season live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday. Coverage starts at 11am.
Source : Sky Sports
