A battle of Britain takes centre stage at Celtic Park where Scottish Premiership champions Celtic play host to Premier League side Newcastle United in a pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon.

Last season’s League Cup winners of Scotland and England will compete to win the inaugural adidas Trophy, with both teams partners of the German sportswear brand.

Match preview

After winning their record-equalling 55th Premiership title, their 22nd League Cup and losing the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen in their final match of the 2024-25 campaign, Celtic had just under six weeks off over the summer before beginning their pre-season on July 4.

A 1-0 win over Queen’s Park was followed by a 2-1 victory against Irish outfit Cork City, before the Hoops lost 3-2 against Estrela Amadora in their first friendly fixture over in Portugal as part of their warm-weather training camp.

However, Brendan Rodgers’s men returned to winning ways on Wednesday when they beat Primeira Liga champions Sporting Lisbon by a 2-0 scoreline, courtesy of second-half goals from Reo Hatete and Luke McCowan.

Rodgers hailed his side’s “outstanding” performance and tactical excellence in the Algarve, and although Celtic have scored two goals in each of their last three friendlies, he felt that his team “lacked a little bit in the final third” against Sporting and could have scored more.

After a rewarding spell in the Iberian Peninsula overall, Celtic are now preparing to head back to Glasgow for this weekend’s clash with Newcastle, before making the trip to Como for their final friendly against Dutch giants Ajax on July 24, 10 days before they begin the defence of their Premiership crown at home to St Mirren.

Last season, Newcastle ended their 70-year wait to lift domestic silverware by winning the EFL Cup in March before Eddie Howe’s side finished fifth in the Premier League to secure Champions League qualification for the second time in three seasons.

Newcastle have since kick-started their pre-season preparations with a convincing 4-0 victory over non-league outfit Carlisle United in a behind-closed-doors contest at the Magpies’ training centre last weekend.

After missing the final five Premier League games of last season through injury, fan favourite Joelinton marked his return to the side with a goal, while Jacob Murphy, Ben Parkinson and Leeds United-bound Sean Longstaff also got their names on the scoresheet.

Howe and co recently enjoyed a short pre-season training camp in Austria and Newcastle are now preparing for their first friendly fixture at Celtic Park since the summer of 2004 when Sir Bobby Robson's side lost 2-1 to the Hoops.

Around 10,000 Geordie fans are expected to make the trip to Glasgow for the first time since Newcastle locked horns with Celtic’s Old Firm rivals Rangers in 2023, winning 2-1 at Ibrox in testimonial match for Gers legend Allan McGregor.

Howe will hope to take plenty of positives from Newcastle’s outing against Celtic this weekend ahead of travelling to Singapore and South Korea to continue their pre-season campaign, facing Arsenal in the Singapore Festival of Football before taking on an all-star K League side and Tottenham Hotspur in the Coupang Play Series.

Celtic pre-season form:

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Newcastle United pre-season form::

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Team News

Following the £16.5m sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como and with Jota set to miss the rest of 2025 with an ACL injury, James Forrest is Celtic’s only out-and-out right-winger in their first-team squad, and the Hoops legend is expected to be involved on Saturday.

Cameron Carter-Vickers has made his long-awaited return to full training after recovering from a minor knee procedure earlier this summer and he could be involved in some capacity along with the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda.

Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney, Ross Doohan, Hayato Inamura and Callum Osmand have all joined the Hoops on permanent deals this summer and they are all in contention to feature this weekend.

As for Newcastle, they fielded two separate lineups in each half of their victory over Carlisle and Howe is likely to take a similar approach on Saturday as he aims to give valuable minutes to as many of his players as possible to build up their match fitness.

Summer signing Anthony Elanga is in contention to make his first Magpies appearance since completing his £55m transfer from Nottingham Forest last weekend, while fellow Swede Alexander Isak has taken part in training and could also be involved despite a reported approach from Liverpool earlier this week.

The likes of captain Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Dan Burn and Tino Livramento were not involved against Carlisle, but they should be in contention to feature against Celtic, while Lewis Hall is not expected to play as he continues his rehabilitation from a foot injury.

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Kenny, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Nygren, Engels; Forrest, Idah, Maeda

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Burn; Willock, Miley, Guimaraes; Elanga, Osula, Gordon

We say: Celtic 1-2 Newcastle United

Both teams will looking to build momentum heading into the new season and will back themselves to deliver a positive performance in front of a near-capacity crowd. Celtic already have four friendlies under their belt, but if Newcastle are to field a strong side, then they should find a way to come out on top.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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