Celtic blow as first-team star looks set to miss Aberdeen game

Celtic will be heading into the new season riding high on confidence. While their pre-season was far from perfect, they did not lose a single game and finished it with a 2-0 win over Norwich City. That result must have given Ange Postecoglou’s side a lot of confidence, as they are set to start their Premiership title defence against Aberdeen at Parkhead on Flag Day.

Aberdeen are a team in form though and look to be capable of causing an upset. Thus, the Hoops must be very careful, as they look to avoid a sloppy start to the season, like they had last time around, losing 3 of their first 6 league games.

One of the worries that Celtic had in pre-season was their defence. They did not look very solid at the back and one of the major reasons behind that was the absence of Carl Starfelt, who was a regular beside Cameron Carter-Vickers last season. There were hopes that he could recover in time for the opener but now, it looks like that won’t be happening.

As reported by the Daily Record, Starfelt is highly unlikely to be ready for Celtic’s Premiership opener against Aberdeen.

Celtic first-team star looks set to miss season opener against Aberdeen

Starfelt’s brilliant form last season saw him return to the Swedish national team picture. It was while on international duty though that he ended up suffering an injury, which has kept him out of action since then.

Starfelt did not feature in any of Celtic’s games this pre-season and as a result, even when he does return, one would expect him to take some time to get up to game speed.

One can only hope that that return to action is not far away. The Swede was one of the key players behind Celtic’s double last season and his combination with Carter-Vickers in the heart of defence solved a lot of the Hoops’ problems at the back.