Celtic v Motherwell – Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

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The Celtic Star

·25 Desember 2024

Celtic v Motherwell – Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

Celtic welcome Motherwell to Paradise on Boxing Day for the Premiership fixture between first and four in the table…

Callum McGregor celebrates winning the Premier Sports Cup after Celtic’s victory over theRangers on 15 December 2024 at Hampden Park. Photo Kenny Ramsay

The visitors were on the wrong end of a terrible refereeing decision which Stuart Kettlewell has described as the worst he has ever seen – he must have missed the Premier Sports Cup Final. After an appeal, Motherwell’s Dan Casey will be available to face Celtic on Boxing Day.

Video OneFootball

Motherwell’s Dan Casey leaves the pitch after being shown a red card during the Scottish Premiership match between Motherwell and Kilmarnock at Fir Park Stadium Motherwell on Friday 20th December 2024 Photo Andy Buchanan/Shutterstock

You wonder if Motherwell will now hound the referee by issuing statement after statement demanding that Chris Graham doesn’t get to get further appointments particularly if it involves their opponent who benefited from the honest mistake.

Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor celebrate during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Brendan Rodgers will be looking for an improved performance at Celtic Park, where conditions should be better than up at Tannadice the other day. Celtic’s gruelling December schedule is clearly impacting on the free flowing football and also resulting in a notable pick-up in injuries which fortunately have not troubled the Champions too much until now.

Christmas message from the manager

Brendan Rodgers with the Premier Sports Cup after Celtic’s victory over theRangers on 15 December 2024 at Hampden Park. Photo Kenny Ramsay

This is a moment of the year to reflect and spend time with the people we love and cherish. This Christmas we will all be together at Celtic Park and today the players and staff will be working hard in our preparations for our game tomorrow to ensure we can bring you a performance and result. In the meantime I want to wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday period wherever you are in the world, and know we will be giving our all to make it a points-filled Christmas Happy Christmas, Brendan

Celtic v St Mirren – Premiership – Celtic Park Santa Claus carries the trophy to the pitch after the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park on Saturday May 18, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

Celtic Team News

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty missed the trip to Dundee through illness, both should be fine after taking the lemsips and should be involved tomorrow. Nicolas Kuhn has slight problem with his knee so may be on the bench and might stay there if things are going to plan. James Forrest is missing after picking up an injury in the Premier Sports Cup final victory over theRangers which will keep him sidelined for around six weeks.

Alistair Johnston is being rested with his hip problem from the game in Zagreb the cause and he’s likely to be kept in cold storage foe the Glasgow Derby on 2 January.

Stephen Welsh at Tannadice, Dundee Utd v Celtic, Sunday 22 December 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

While we are usually fairly accurate with team predictions we were way off at Tannadice, with the likes of Steven Welsh coming into the team, and playing very well. With no media conference from the manager ahead of this one there’s no up-to-date injury news, so team predictions are fraught with danger and further embarrassment for yours truly (thanks for the comments folks!)

Predicted Team

Neither Yang nor Luis Palma did enough at Tannadice to merit a place in our predicted starting XI and Brendan ended the match with Kyogo playing on the right wing. He might be tempted to try this from the start on Boxing Day.

Paulo Bernardo during the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden on Sunday 15 December 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Kasper Schmeichel in goals; a back four of Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Greg Taylor; Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo in the middle of the park with a front three of Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah and Kyogo.

Subs bench tomorrow could look like this: Sinisalo, Palma, Valle, Nawrocki, Engels, Welsh, Trusty, McCowan and Yang.

Celtic team to play Dundee United at Tannadice. Photo Celtic FC

Match Officials

Referee Ross Hardie will take charge of Celtic v Motherwell on Boxing Day. Photo Malcolm Mackenzie/PSI

The Scottish FA has confirmed that Ross Hardie will referee the Celtic v Motherwell match on Boxing Day at Celtic Park. Hardie will be assisted by Jonathan Bell and Gordon Crawford while Evan Anderson will head up the VAR assisted by Graeme Stewart.

Kick-off Time at Paradise

The Boxing Day match at Celtic Park kicks off at 3pm.

Where to Watch

Celtic v Motherwell is NOT on Sky Sports but there is a PPV option from Celtic TV for supporters based in Britain or Ireland.

Callum McGregor at Tannadice, Dundee Utd v Celtic, Sunday 22 December 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The match is a sell-out so around 60,000 will be there looking for some post Christmas cheer with the Bhoys putting on a show and picking up another three points. For those not able to make it along to Celtic Park on Boxing Day then you can watch the game on Celtic TV’s Pay-Per-View (PPV) service which is in operation for this match for supporters in Britain and Ireland.

Celtic TV will be live from 2:30pm on Boxing Day and the match is available to buy now. Simply go to www.celticfc.tv and register your details before selecting your PPV purchase.

The match is available for all supporters – you don’t have to be a Celtic TV subscriber. So enjoy all the build-up, live action, half-time and full-time analysis for just £12.99. Celtic TV subscribers in the UK and Ireland will receive a special discounted price of £9.99, which will be automatically applied at checkout.

Celtic TV subscribers based outside of Britain and Ireland can watch the match as normal.

Predicted Score

Having dropped two points at Tannadice as Dundee United became the first side to prevent Celtic from scoring this season in domestic football, the Bhoys will be looking to get back to scoring and winning ways against Motherwell. Expect a comfortable 3-0 win for Celtic.

Celtic in the Thirties

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By popular demand, both volumes of Celtic in the Thirties are now available on Amazon Kindle, with the links to order below. Signed copies of both volumes are available on hardback from Celtic Star Books and if you would like author Matt Corr to add a special dedication to your copies please let us know. Order hardback copies HERE or for Amazon Kindle click on the links below…

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