Aberdeen v Celtic – Suddenly we’re spoilt for choice in attack

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The Celtic Star

·4 February 2026

Aberdeen v Celtic – Suddenly we’re spoilt for choice in attack

Spoilt for choice in an attacking sense, it will be interesting to see tonight’s starting XI selected by Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney…

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill looks on during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on February 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Tonight we head to Pittodrie in yet another vital league fixture, even more so after Hearts slipped to a 1-0 defeat against St Mirren last night, meaning a win against the Dons will cut the gap with the league leaders to just three points.

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3rd February 2026; SMISA Stadium, Paisley, St Mirren v Hearts; Miguel Freckleton of St Mirren heads the ball and scores in the 88th minute to make it 1-0 to St Mirren Photo Vagelis Geogariou

Celtic needed a favour as we were six points behind Hearts with one only match against them to play and that will be at Celtic Park post-split. That favour was duly delivered by St Mirren’s Miguel Freckleton at Paisley last night with his 88th minute header. Nice to see Hearts conceding from a corner too.

So the title is back in our own hands and the work starts tonight up at Pittodrie against an manageress Aberdeen who are on a run of terrible results. We have to prolong their agony.

3rd February 2026; SMISA Stadium, Paisley, St Mirren v Hearts; Miguel Freckleton of St Mirren heads the ball and scores in the 88th minute to make it 1-0 to St Mirren Photo Vagelis Geogariou

Tonight Celtic supporters will be both eager and curious to see the starting XI selected by MON and Shaun, due to the influx of new players arriving through the door on deadline day. In the once problematic centre forward department, it’s now an area where we are spoiled for choice with the likes of Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu, and of course Kelechi Iheanacho all available for selection.

Fellow new boy Joel Mvuka will also be in contention for a start to give us a stack of options up top against the Dons as the title battle intensifies.

FC Lorient v FC Metz – Ligue 1 McDonald s 2025/2026 93 Joel MVUKA fcl during the Ligue 1 McDonald s match between Lorient and Metz at Stade du Moustoir on January 4, 2026 in Lorient, France. Photo FEP/IMAGO

With Sebastian Tounekti, Daizen Maeda and Yang also most likely to be available we have an abundance of attacking options, and will be more of a threat in front of goal, more so than the last few weeks. And don’t forget James Forrest who performed very well indeed in the second half at the weekend in the 2-0 win over Falkirk.

Winning is the only prerogative, but goal differential could well come into play come the end of the season. So it goes without saying that adding a few to our goals for tally would be ideal, and with an added freshness and depth in our squad, three points and lots of goals is what we all expect and demand in every single fixture from now on in.

Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic and Keelan Adams of Falkirk. Celtic v Falkirk, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 01 February 2026. Photo Mark Runnacles IMAGO / Shutterstock

Tomas Cvancara, Sebastian Tounekti, and Daizen Maeda are perhaps the most likely candidates to start, but with the likes of Iheanacho, Adamu, Mvuka, Yang and Forrest likely to be on the bench, we have fantastic options to choose from if we need to freshen things up.

Aberdeen in their own pen is always a tough gig, but we’re on the cusp of seven game unbeaten run, and with a host of new faces in the squad, we can head to Pittodrie in fine spirits and dim their Norther Lights even more to make Celtic’s title challenge shine brightly.

Oh and cheer up Derek.

3rd February 2026; SMISA Stadium, Scottish Premiership. St Mirren v Hearts. Derek McInnes applauds the fans after the final whistle. Photo Vagelis Geogariou

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Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Click on image to order