Brendan Rodgers has delivered his assessment on what Celtic need to bring against Aberdeen as Scotland’s top two go head-to-head at Pittodrie on Wednesday evening.
The Bhoys arrive at Pittodrie after thrashing Ross County to open up what turned out to be a four-point advantage at the summit following the Dons’ draw with Heart of Midlothian last Sunday.
Earlier today, confirmation also arose that Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov won’t play against Celtic after sustaining a hamstring injury at Tynecastle, presenting another dynamic shift ahead of a highly-anticipated clash in the North East.
Either way, Brendan Rodgers has been around the block enough times to know there are no givens in the Scottish Premiership. Jimmy Thelin’s side are where they sit on merit and will pose a difficult threat to the defending champions.
Looking ahead to the fixture, the Irishman has laid out how Celtic plan to emerge victorious on a night with significant permutations at the top of the table.
Brendan Rodgers wants Celtic to create ‘problems’ for Aberdeen
Speaking ahead of Celtic’s trip to face Aberdeen, Rodgers has vowed that his side will look to cause ‘problems’ for the home side and signalled that they will have learned from their two previous meetings with the Dons.
He stated: “I can only control what we want to do in the game and that’s to bring a really positive and attacking attitude in the game.
“I think the first game at home when we drew 2-2, we went a bit slack, and we got punished for that. Still, over the course of the two games, created a lot of opportunities to score and were defensively strong apart from those couple of moments.
“But, it’s away from home, every game away from home, especially the top teams, it’s always a challenge, so we’ll expect that there. I also expect us from the first whistle to really go and create the game and give Aberdeen problems.”
Celtic have chance to make statement by defeating Aberdeen
If 13 Scottish Premiership matches without defeat wasn’t enough of a statement, Celtic have the chance to nail their colours to the mast by sidestepping Aberdeen on their own patch tomorrow night.
Claiming three points would place the Bhoys seven points clear of their closest challengers, with the added caveat of holding a game in hand in reserve to pile the pressure on.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 4 | 36 | 37 |
| 2 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 33 |
| 3 |  RangersRangers | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 26 |
| 4 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 23 |
Rangers will also be paying close attention to the situation in case anyone slips up, but Rodgers and company hold confidence that they can hammer home their credentials.
Under the lights at Pittodrie, Celtic have the chance to leave nobody in any doubt that they will take some stopping this season.
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