Celtic welcome newly-promoted Dundee to Celtic Park tomorrow.
The home side can't afford to drop any more points before the derby at the end of the month after last weekend's opening day defeat to Hearts, while Dundee are off and running after a draw against St Mirren.
James McPake's kept his squad together after they were promoted via the play-offs, putting Kilmarnock to the sword in rather emphatic fashion and ending an involuntary two-year sabbatical from the top flight.
Taking a look at the opposition's strengths, Celtic's playing style and last weekend's game at Dens, The Celtic Way considers how and why Ange Postecoglou's boys will need to be on their toes.
Dundee's exhilarating league opener
Dundee's game against St Mirren last weekend was arguably the match of the opening weekend. Four goals equally shared, a red card and attacking intent in spades made it a fascinating and exciting watch at Dens Park.
A point on the board is encouraging, especially when the newly-promoted side were reduced to 10 men after Max Anderson's cynical yet comedic challenge on Eamonn Brophy to prevent a breakaway. The numerical disadvantage probably goes some way to explaining why St Mirren's xG rate increased considerably towards the latter stages of the game, from just under 1.5 to 1.86 compared to the Dees' 1.26, but the home side held firm. It's also fair to note that without Jamie McGrath's penalty for the Buddies' second, the visitor's xG from the game is only 1.10, so Dundee did restrict St Mirren to fairly limited chances despite their 14 shots on goal.
Dundee fell behind twice in the match, firstly from an old-school goalkeeper's punt that was knocked down by Curtis Main and finished by Brophy with the aid of a deflection. Their first equaliser was an own goal by Joe Shaughnessy but, in fairness, Charlie Adam would've probably managed an effort on target from the corner delivery if Shaughnessy didn't get there first and send it in the wrong direction. McGrath's penalties might as well be 1.00xG but back came Dundee again with a sweeping move down the left that was beautifully finished by Jason Cummings.
Do we know how they'll set up at Celtic Park?
Given it's only Dundee's second game in the Scottish Premiership since their promotion at the end of last season, it's difficult to accurately predict how James McPake will organise and instruct his team this weekend.
Every player that started against St Mirren played in their promotion campaign last season so they'll be familiar with what their manager expects from them on a match-day, but it's a role reversal for Dundee after they were one of the stronger teams in the Championship last season.
After a basketball match against St Mirren, Sunday is more likely to resemble a game of British Bulldogs with restricted space for Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest to operate in because of a probable low-block. Callum McGregor and David Turnbull are creative players, but if there's no room for their targets to work in then it can quickly become a game of frustration with Celtic returning home to start again, time after time.
READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou sees room for improvement after 4-2 win v Jablonec
It's unlikely Dundee will try to beat Celtic at their own game but with Celtic's set-piece weakness combined with Dundee's set-piece potency, it's a fair shout James McPake will have spent a few hours on the training ground watching his players perfect their free-kick and corner routines. Charlie Adam has made a living from the quality of his left foot and the delivery it produces. Dundee aren't exactly a team of giants but with Lee Ashcroft, who bulleted home a header in the play-off win against Kilmarnock, in the box along with the threatening Jordan McGhee, Celtic can't afford to fall asleep. We're only one game into the season, but they had a set-piece xG rate of 0.39 against St Mirren, so the danger is there in black and white.
How might Celtic break them down?
Celtic profited from inverting Greg Taylor for the opening goal against Jablonec on Thursday. It's a move that isolates a winger, in this instance James Forrest, with a full-back because attention is drawn to Taylor, or perhaps Ralston on the other side. With the agility, pace and directness of Forrest and Liel Abada they can then take on their man one-on-one or slip a pass behind their marker for the accelerating full-back who can then pick out a target in the box, which should be made slightly easier too if a centre-back is drawn towards Taylor and leaves more space in the area.
Christie Elliot and Jordan Marshall are the full-backs of choice at Dens at the moment and, much like Celtic at set-pieces, can't afford to blink.
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