Our Alternative - A Celtic vs Aberdeen Preview

This Sunday, we, the consumer, are presented with a choice. Kicking off at 12 noon are two games. The first, which I’ll get to in a minute, is that of Celtic vs Aberdeen. The other is Manchester City vs Liverpool.

It’s rare I actually mention the EPL in terms of actual football played. After all, that’s not this blog’s focus. But it has to be mentioned in this piece because of the choice the consumer has. You see, you can choose to watch a Manchester City side who got humbled by Barcelona play a Liverpool side who miss Luis Suarez like the average person would miss a limb. They are, charitably, two fairly dull teams with the steroid infusion of cash that brings good players and the Botox of marketing that Sky used to polish every turd the EPL craps out. You’ll see plenty of adverts to convince you to watch it. You’ll see plenty of column inches for it. And you’ll probably, at the end of it, get a dull as dishwater draw played in a sterile environment that will be lauded as if it’s the best thing ever by sycophantic tapeworms in a studio paid to make every non-event seem like it had a million flashpoints. A lot of people will choose to watch it and, in my opinion, every single one of them is mad.

The game everyone should be watching is Celtic vs Aberdeen. A lot of English people will scoff at the suggestion that they watch Scottish football, a product they’ve had rammed into them for years as simply inferior. This is, bluntly, untrue. The Scottish Premiership, while having the same point spread between top and bottom, has a higher goals per game ratio than its English counterpart. By that metric at least, Celtic vs Aberdeen is likely to be more entertaining.

But it’s also more important. This game is, without a hint of sarcasm, the single most important domestic league game to take place in Scotland since the last day of the 2010-11 season that decided the title for Rangers. In that time, we’ve seen Rangers liquidate, Celtic beat Barcelona, Hearts struggle to survive and St Johnstone win their first ever major trophy. A lot has happened and this is bigger than all of it. It is no exaggeration to say that, in spite of going to Milan with a very winnable European tie vs Inter in prospect, that it’s the Aberdeen game that is the big one this week. It is the title decider.

But even more than that, it is a match between two entertaining and exceptional sides. Celtic are high on energy, goals and, as seen vs Inter, entertainment. Inter may not be a classic vintage but they still have players that are the envy of many EPL sides, including those at the sharp end of the table - to be able to compete and threaten them shows Celtic are a high class side.

Opposing them are an Aberdeen side who haven’t lost in the league since losing to Celtic on 9th November in a game that was to Ronny Deila what the 3-3 vs Kilmarnock was to Neil Lennon. They have swept aside Hamilton and St Mirren in recent weeks scoring 11 goals without reply in their last three league games. Undeniably an impressive outfit, they have hung on to Celtic when many thought they would begin to fade away weeks ago and come into this game knowing that a win will put them level on points at the top but defeat would leave them six points back and all but out of it. It is crunch time for them.

And who will win? An Aberdeen loss would probably end their title challenge but it is flip-of-a-coin stuff as to the result. Both sides have been equally impressive in the league as of late, Aberdeen have pushed Celtic all the way in games before this season and Celtic will come in having traveled back from a midweek trip to Milan. The form and the table may have Celtic slightly in front, but the omens have the sides more or less level.

In terms of playing personnel, Aberdeen are built around a strong defence that allows their wealth of attacking options to flourish. They stuttered in January but appear to have their solidity back. While Scott Brown isn’t the most convincing keeper, their parsimony at the back is built around not giving the teams a sniff at a chance rather than exceptional goalkeeping. Celtic have excellent defenders but do have a tendency to give up a chance, which is where their exceptional goalkeeping comes in. In Craig Gordon, Celtic possess the best goalkeeper in Scotland (in spite of his mistakes vs Inter) and a player who has come very close to the sort of form he showed during his time of full fitness in England where he was the best goalkeeper in the UK, potentially the world in it’s then pre-Neuer state.

But, more importantly, both sides are prolific. Celtic have recently hit the sort of form that is blowing sides away. Hamilton, Dundee and even Inter have had periods where the attacking thrust and vigor of Celtic has simply been too much for them to handle. When Celtic get on top, they throttle games with the defensive screen and double pivot of Scott Brown and Nir Bitton, which allows new additions Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to push forward while Stefan Johansen covers every blade of grass and press higher and harder than any team seen in Scotland before - where other teams run out of energy, Celtic seem to have been fitness trained by the Duracell bunny. Up front, John Guidetti and Leigh Griffiths are both in form and firing. If that’s not enough, there’s also the threat of Kris Commons from the bench if another option is needed.

Aberdeen, however, are unlikely to allow Celtic enough breathing space to close out much of anything. In Ryan Jack, they have their own defensive screen who stands on his own as the outstanding young player in Scotland right now and is as much a threat going forward as anyone, if allowed the space. But their real assets are the three strong attacking midfield options they have in Pawlett, McGinn and McLean - each are as comfortable cutting inside as they are going out wide, which presents problems for defenders as they have to be comfortable showing them both ways and all are dangerous shooting from distance, meaning that defences have to get out quickly to prevent situations occurring. And for everything else, there is arch-poacher, Adam Rooney who comes into the game in form and can be trusted to make the most out of every scrap that comes his way. If anything, Aberdeen almost have more ways to score than Celtic. Celtic, however, have better players executing those ways.

It gives us a game that is the biggest in Scotland in years between two teams that are not only slugging it out at the top, they are also well matched. Two teams that are not only sold, they are also entertaining. Fireworks are a certainty and it is difficult to imagine either side winning by more than the odd goal, such is the quality and form present in both. If I had to plump for a prediction, I’d be going for 3-2 to Celtic - Celtic have won both games this season 2-1 but both sides look more potent now than before.

You, the consumer, are presented with a choice this Sunday. You can take the hollow glitz of the EPL.

Or you can take the SPFL. The biggest game in Scotland for years between two evenly matched teams that have made a habit of putting on impressive, entertaining goal laden matches.

That’s the SPFL. This is our alternative.

When you think about it, it’s not really much of choice at all.