Celtic face Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final tonight, with a chance to return to Hampden Park awaiting the winners.
An impressive performance saw Celtic beat third-placed Hibernian 6-1 in their last outing, with James Forrest scoring a hat trick to keep the Hoops at the top of the Premiership. It was the perfect response from Ange Postecoglou's side following their exit from the UEFA Champions League, with the manager now hoping his side can carry their good form into their clash with Motherwell.
A 4-1 victory against Ross County saw Celtic advance to the quarter-finals of the cup back in August, with the winner at Fir Park set to advance to the semi-finals at Hampden. The last meeting with the Steelmen saw the Hoops win 2-1 in the league at the beginning of the month.
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David Turnbull and Jota are both set to miss the clash against Motherwell, whilst Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt will join the duo on the sidelines. So, could Celtic find victory in the cup against Motherwell?
We used FIFA 23 to try and predict the score, and this is what happened!
Motherwell vs Celtic score predicted by simulation
We predict that the hosts could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kelly; McGinn, Johansen, Lamie, Penny; Slattery, Goss; Morris, Tierney, McKinstry; Van Veen.
We predict that the Hoops could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; Hatate, O'Riley, Haksabanovic; Maeda, Furuhashi, Forrest.
Celtic started the game on top, with an early flurry of chances seeing the Hoops hit the post twice in the opening 20 minutes. The pressure was nonstop from Postecoglou's side, and they found a deserved goal 40 minutes through Kyogo Furuhashi.
Sead Haksabanovic picked up possession deep in Motherwell's half and surged forward, skipping through the home side's midfield and into the final third. As he approached the box, a smart through ball was latched onto by Furuhashi, and the striker did well to tuck his effort into the near post, sending the 'keeper the wrong way.
In the opening 45 minutes, Celtic had managed 16 shots to Motherwell's four, with the Hoops unlucky to not be ahead by more. Ultimately, their missed chances ended up proving costly, with the hosts equalising just before the break.
Stuart McKinstry picked up the ball on the left in a dangerous position, but rather than taking on his man, he lifted a ball across the box and into the feet of Ross Tierney. The midfielder controlled the cross before pushing away from Greg Taylor and finding the top corner of the net.
Motherwell were reduced to nine men in the second half after Paul McGinn and Callum Slattery were sent off, making a comeback extremely difficult for the hosts. The Hoops found themselves bombarding the Motherwell goal in the final 10 minutes, and with one minute remaining, Forrest found the winner.
Matt O'Riley made an overlap on the left and was fed through by Daizen Maeda, sending the midfielder into a dangerous crossing position. As he reached the byline, O'Riley drilled a ball to Forrest at the back post, and the winger tapped into an empty net to secure Celtic's spot in the semi-finals.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: Motherwell 1-2 Celtic
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that despite dominating the game, Celtic could need a late goal to secure a win against Motherwell to send them into the next round of the cup. Forrest could star again for the Hoops as he scored the winning goal, with Postecoglou's side unlucky to not win by more.
What do you think the score will be between Celtic and Motherwell tonight? Let us know in the comments!
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