Aberdeen v Celtic: Scottish Premiership – live!

18 min: Oooooooh, what a chance for James Wilson. The former Manchester United man hasn’t scored in 2019, and it showed there, as a fantastic cross found him all alone in front of goal, eight yards out. It was a little behind Wilson but he could only crash a volley down into the ground, with the ball bouncing behind off the top of the bar. Golden chance on his stronger foot.

16 min: Stewart has been Aberdeen’s best player by a mile, twice turning inside Scott Brown to find space.

14 min: From the resulting free kick, Ajer goes down in the box, claiming he was having his shirt tugged by Cosgrave. Ajer did make a meal of it, but there was definitely contact as the wayward cross sailed over his head for a goal kick.

12 min: Yellow card for Ball, who cynically trips McGregor as he is cantering down the left on a counter-attack. Ball was one of those Aberdeen players sent off against Celtic last month, for a tackle on Ryan Christie, who suffered “multiple fractures of the eye socket, jaw and cheekbone,” as a result.

10 min: Aberdeen finally get their foot on the ball. It’s taken 10 minutes. Ball sprays it right but it’s a loose cross from Logan.

8 min: Rogic does go down inside the box after a short corner routine, but the referee is having none of it. It was Cosgrave with the challenge, but it was a good’un.

6 min: Celtic applying some good early pressure. Lowe thinks about a risky challenge on Forrest inside the box, but just about pulls out. Aberdeen can’t get out.

5 min: Timothy Weah, making just his fourth start since his loan move from PSG, darts down the left, gets beyond Logan but his cross can’t find Edouard.

4 min: It’s been a slow start otherwise. Lewis signed a new five-year contract this week and is the only Aberdeen player to have played all 47 matches this season.

2 min: Tierney, who passed a fitness test and will have an operation this summer for a double hernia, gets to the byline and floats a lovely cross to the back post. Rogic climbs highest and nods down powerfully, but Lewis does well to parry the ball, and then pounce on it before any Celtic players can react.

There is a minute’s applause pre-match for Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, which both sets of fans keenly join in. The travelling Celtic faithful belt out “There’s only one Steve Chalmers” from the away end.

The teams are out. Aberdeen are in their home scarlet kit, Celtic, in their green and white hoops, are lead out by Scott Brown.

Speaking of discipline, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes will be in the stands today, serving a one-game SFA suspension after he was sent to the stands in the last meeting of the two sides for gesturing at Celtic fans.

That was in the Scottish Cup semi-final, which Aberdeen lost 3-0, finishing the game with nine men.

Some quotes from Steven Gerrard have just dropped on PA. Rangers play tomorrow tomorrow and if they beat Hibs (and Celtic lose today) they will take the title ‘race’ to next weekend. Ibrox hosts the Old Firm Derby next Sunday.

Steven Gerrard has hinted Alfredo Morelos may have to wait for his Rangers return after stressing he will show loyalty to the players who have stepped up during the Colombian’s suspension.

Morelos was handed a four-game ban after aiming an elbow at Celtic skipper Scott Brown during the Old Firm derby in March. But the absence of their top-scorer has not slowed Rangers’ attack, with Jermain Defoe in good form and Gerrard’s team racking up 11 goals while cruising to four straight victories.

“In any area of the team, if you play well, then you deserve to keep the shirt. Discipline is a word that’s come up a lot in our press conferences and we have been damaged, whether it be through injury or suspension, by not having key players available at key times. The message to the whole team, not just Alfredo, is we want them to be aggressive and strong but in the right way as it’s important we keep 11 players on the pitch and give ourselves the best chance of being successful.”

Celtic’s current crop of players really do stand on the shoulders of giants, and two in particular.

We can’t preview this game without mentioning Billy McNeill. The captain of the Lisbon Lions was laid to rest on Friday, and Celtic fans came out in their thousands to honour the great man.

Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Devlin, McKenna, Lowe, Ball, Ferguson, Wilson, May, Stewart, Cosgrove.
Subs: Virtanen, Halford, Cerny, Campbell, Dangana, Ethan Ross, MacKenzie.

Celtic: Bain, Lustig, Simunovic, Ajer, Tierney, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Rogic, Weah, Edouard.
Subs: Toljan, Sinclair, Hayes, Ntcham, De Vries, Burke, Benkovic.

Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)

Hello world. Celtic are on the verge of their eighth successive title, which (even accounting for the skewed nature of Fitba) is a magnificent achievement. A win or draw at Aberdeen today will get them over the line – it will be the 50th time they have been named champions of Scotland (just four more to match Rangers’ 54, lads!).

It is easy to scoff at all this, and while there is no doubt that anything but first place for the Bhoys would be an abject failure, it is also worth remembering that they lost their best striker (on deadline day last summer) and their manager (in February) and still look like they will canter over the line. Neil Lennon will be keen to have everything wrapped up today, because:

a) his contract is up at the summer
b) Celtic’s next game is at Rangers
c) Nobody wants to limp over the line like PSG

That said, a victory at Aberdeen isn’t the easiest task. Celtic made tough work of this fixture last season, winning 4-3, thanks to a hatty from Scott Sinclair and a delicious dink from Odsonne Edouard.

Aberdeen, currently in third, have their own ambitions of securing European football. This will be the first season in five season that they will not finish runners up, and they have a point to prove. Should be a cracking game.

Kick off: 12.30pm BST.