Celtic return to Parkhead for the first time since their dramatic Scottish Premiership title success when they take on Middlesbrough in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
Late goals from Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand helped Celtic to a memorable 3-1 victory over Hearts on the final day of last season as they pipped their opponents to the Premiership title by two points.
Martin O'Neill's side went on to complete the domestic double by beating Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup final to cap a memorable end to the season.
It wasn't such a strong conclusion to 2025/26 for Middlesbrough, as after the drama of spygate in their Championship play-off semi-final with Southampton, they were then unable to secure promotion after losing in the final to Hull City at Wembley.
Celtic v Middlesbrough Tips Summary
Best Bet - Celtic to win and both teams to score @ 2/1
Alternative Bet - Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5
Bet Builder - Celtic to win from behind, Most goals in second half & Goals range 2-5 @ 14/1
Celtic v Middlesbrough Prediction
Best Bet: Celtic to win and both teams to score @ 2/1
This will be Celtic's third pre-season friendly of the summer and they should be further down the line in their preparations than Middlesbrough, who will be playing for the first time since their play-off final heartache.
That's not to say the Bhoys have had much success in their friendlies, following up a 1-1 draw with League of Ireland side Shelbourne with a 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP in Portugal.
The four goals shipped in that defeat at the Estadio Algarve further highlighted the defensive issues that plagued Celtic for much of last season - they conceded seven more goals than Hearts and kept only one clean sheet in their final 14 Premiership fixtures of 2025/26.
However, O'Neill's men did also win their final nine domestic matches of last season and they should be able to get the better of a potentially rusty Boro side that will be playing for the first time in almost two months.
Only three sides outscored Boro in the Championship last season and despite selling captain Hayden Hackney to Everton, they have kept much of their attacking talent as well as adding forward Kyle Joseph to their squad.
Kim Hellberg's side will expect to score at Parkhead, but Celtic's extra match sharpness should give them the overall edge.
Alternative Bet: Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5
Celtic were involved in plenty of dramatic and high-scoring games during last season's run-in, with six of their final seven matches featuring a minimum of four goals, while the one that didn't still saw the back of the net struck three times.
The Bhoys themselves scored 23 goals during that seven-game stretch and the goalscoring fun has continued in pre-season, with Celtic netting in both their games but conceding four in defeat to Sporting.
Three of Boro's final four matches of the Championship regular season featured at least four goals, and although the scoring dried up during the play-offs, that can be put down to the magnitude of what was at stake.
This is a game that should provide plenty of goalmouth action for the supporters in attendance, with a minimum of four goals likely to be scored.
Celtic v Middlesbrough Bet Builder Tip
Celtic to win from behind
Most goals in second half
Goals range 2-5
Pays 14/1
Celtic made a habit of coming from behind to win in the Premiership last season, most notably doing so on the final day against Hearts, while they also trailed in meetings with Motherwell and Rangers during the run-in - coming back to triumph in both games.
They also scored stoppage-time winners in successive weeks against Livingston and Kilmarnock.
The Bhoys are certainly capable of coming from behind to win on Saturday and that could lead to more goals being scored in the second half.
Seven of Celtic's final 11 goals in last season's Premiership came after the break, while Boro conceded in extra-time against Southampton in their play-off semi-final and shipped a 95th-minute goal to Hull's Oli McBurnie in the final.
Finally, the goal range of this game should fall between two and five, which would have been a winning bet in both of Celtic's friendlies so far this summer and in their final six matches of 2025/26.
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Key Match Stats
Celtic have already played two pre-season matches, drawing with Shelbourne and losing to Sporting CP
This will be Middlesbrough's first match since losing to Hull in the Championship play-off final on 23rd May
Celtic ended last season on a nine-match winning run
A minimum of four goals were scored in six of Celtic's final seven matches of 2025/26
Middlesbrough only won two of their final 13 matches of last season
This will be the first meeting between Celtic and Middlesbrough since a 1-1 pre-season friendly draw in 2008
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
