Scottish Football 
/ Michael Lintorn / 05 August 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Struggling Aberdeen boss Craig Brown won't be shown sympathy by Celtic
"Aberdeen collected only six points from a possible 54 against top-half clubs in the previous campaign."
Aberdeen have offered little so far this season to indicate that their dreadful recent record against Celtic can be brought to an end at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Rangers aren't in action in the SPL this weekend, opting to use the friendly joker that Celtic utilised to enter the Dublin Super Cup last week to welcome Chelsea to Ibrox, so last season's runners-up have a chance to climb back above the champions.
The Bhoys' decision to head to Republic of Ireland instead of hosting promoted Dunfermline means that they kick off the campaign with two away games, however Neil Lennon won't be too concerned given the ease with which they triumphed in the capital against Hibernian in their opener.
Aberdeen are less likely than Hibs to cause a shock having failed to score in either of their first two fixtures, not an encouraging statistic considering the opposition were bottom-half regulars St Johnstone and St Mirren, especially as they lost all five of their clashes with the Bhoys in 2010-11.
It is no surprise that the Old Firm side are [1.37] favourites, with likely odds of around [2.1] worth snapping up on the visitors keeping another clean sheet given how toothless the Dons have looked going forward since losing two of their top three scorers last term, Chris Maguire and Paul Hartley.
In total, Aberdeen haven't beaten Celtic in ten attempts now, their most humiliating defeat in that period coming 9-0 at Parkhead last November.
Then boss Mark McGhee was gone within a month and though Craig Brown appeared a shrewd appointment as his successor, a promising start has made way for yet more disappointment, with just two of their last 14 SPL matches ending in victory, compared to eight in defeat.
They are [9.8] to claim a long-awaited and potentially destiny-changing win over the Hoops, but you'll do well to find trends that support such a wager, not least because they collected only six points from a possible 54 against top-half clubs in the previous campaign.
It has taken less than a week for Rangers boss Ally McCoist to be made fully aware of the intense pressure involved when it comes to managing one of the SPL's Glasgow giants....
Ally McCoist is [1.4] to enjoy a victorious start to his tenure as Rangers manager when they get the 2011-12 SPL season underway in front of the TV cameras at home to Hearts on Saturday lunchtime....
Rangers start their latest SPL title defence at Hearts on Saturday, but it remains uncertain whether Carlos Cuellar will be involved, as they attempt to push through a move....
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