Scottish Premiership PREVIEW 3 Aug 2026: Celtic host Dundee as O'Neill's title defence opens Monday

Celtic's Scottish Premiership title defence begins at Celtic Park on Monday 3 August 2026, with kick-off at 19:30 against Dundee. It is the first competitive match of Martin O'Neill's permanent reign, the 74-year-old having been confirmed in the job on 11 June 2026 after his interim spell last season produced a league and Scottish Cup double. Sky Sports is showing the game live, and it also falls on Celtic's flag-unfurling day, when the champions' banner from last season is raised before kick-off.

O'Neill has team news to work through before Monday. Liam Scales, who picked up 12 bookings last season, begins a two-match suspension, leaving the manager to choose a new partner for Cameron Carter-Vickers at centre-back, with Trusty among the options. On the plus side, Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston and Sebastian Tounekti all featured in the recent 2-2 friendly draw with AC Milan after returning from international duty, giving O'Neill a fuller squad to pick from than earlier in pre-season.

Neither side arrives with much pre-season momentum to point to. Celtic were winless across their four summer friendlies, drawing with Shelbourne, Middlesbrough and AC Milan either side of a defeat to Sporting CP. Dundee's warm-up was more competitive: under Steven Pressley, who signed a new contract on 30 July 2026, they finished second in their League Cup group behind Ross County and went through as one of the best runners-up, closing with a 4-0 win over Clyde at Dens Park.

There is no published all-time head-to-head between the two clubs, but some individual results stand out. Celtic's record victory over any opponent, 11-0, came against Dundee back in 1895. More recently it is Dundee who have the story to tell: their 2-0 win at Dens Park in October 2025 was their first league victory over Celtic since May 2001.