NEW Years Day is always derby day in Scotland. This one is West Glasgow v East Glasgow, but what's the bet Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79)?
Partick Thistle v Celtic | Thursday 17:30 | Sky Sports 1
These are exciting times in Scottish football (no honestly) as Aberdeen could become the first non-Glasgow side to go top of the table post-Christmas for 17 years earlier in the day. Just the fact that that stat is hanging around might just kick-start Celtic here.
It's been a bad Christmas for Ronny Delia's side. They lost to Dundee United four days before Santa arrived, and then followed that up with a 0-0 draw at home to Ross County on Saturday. That was the shortest-priced loser of the whole of 2014 in British football. Not good.
I sense we'll get a reaction on Thursday. You can imagine the players will be desperate to right the wrongs of the last two weeks, and being free of the pressure of Celtic Park, I think they could smash up Partick here.
Thistle are down in 9th in the Premiership table with just two wins in their last 10 matches and a loss to hapless Motherwell in their most recent encounter. To be fair, they've had a decent season with a WTF 4-0 win at Inverness three weeks ago the highlight. But they should be no match for an angry Celtic side.
Before their festive blip, Celtic had won eight consecutive league matches and secured a place in the Last 32 of the Europa League. This is very much only a blip and I wouldn't be surprised if they went on another winning run. Starting here!
Celtic massacred Partick 6-0 in the League Cup earlier in the season, and with no away loss in the league since August they'll be hungry for goals on Thursday.
Delia's side are 4/11 with William Hill to take the three points. That's a foregone conclusion. I'm going to start the year off being brave and back Celtic -2 at a large 12/5 with the same firm. I've got a strong feeling that Partick could be on the end of a New Years Day hammering.
Best Bet
Partick Thistle v Celtic – Celtic -2 (12/5 William Hill)
