Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "Any time you play Celtic you're going to be tested. I was pleased with last week, although I don't have the luxury of too many options to change it if I wanted to.

"Big Sam (Cosgrove) passed late fitness test, whicj is a huge boost because yesterday that didn't look likely. He gives us that presence and he's in a good place at the moment.

"To get the win we're going to have to do a lot right.

"In the last game here, the fans were brilliant when we were down to 10 against Hibs and we showed the passion needed to pick up points in this league. The standard of intensity has been apparent and with that we can let Celtic feel us and let them know we are there."

A reminder of how the teams line up with about five minutes to go until kick off...

It's very blowy at Pittodrie. The poor kids waving flags on the pitch are in danger of getting whisked off into the North Sea.

Celtic captain Scott Brown may be the wrong side of 34 but he was in the thick of it against Lazio and is eager to go again today.

"There are no excuses, we just need to go there and do it," he said when asked about possible tiredness.

"It’s true that we couldn’t face a much longer trip off the back of a European night, but we’re used to the Thursday-Sunday thing now. We had a day off on Friday to let us rest and recover so we’re fresh and ready - because as much as it’s a cliche, the truth is that you’re only as good as your next game.

"The league’s huge for us, it’s our bread and butter and we need to be dominating it. The only way to do that is to maintain our form, keep creating chances and keep scoring goals.

"To do that you need to be really fit and I think Thursday night showed where we are in that respect. We kept that going right from the off against Lazio, right down to the 94th minute and no one can deny we looked the fitter team."

Celtic wrapped up their eighth successive title at Pittodrie with a 3-0 win in May.

That was a sixth straight league victory for the champions in the north east, with the last home win coming in February 2016.

In those meetings the Dons have only scored four goals, conceding 16, and been kept scoreless four times.

Image source, SNS

You'll remember that Sam Cosgrove started his Aberdeen career with a disastrous debut against Celtic.

Back in February 2018, he came off the bench at Pittodrie with just 14 minutes to go but he didn't see full time after earning a red card for a shocking lunge at Scott Brown.

It was an inauspicious beginning but things have picked up dramatically since then, with a flood of goals.

"It’s a brilliant story for big Sam," said manager Derek McInnes this week.

"It’s only going to get better for him and I take confidence from his confidence and how he’s been.

"For me, he’s come such a long way in a short space of time and that’s 100% down to him."

The Dons have been pretty up and down this season but they turned in their best performance of the season last weekend to blow Motherwell away at Fir Park.

All three goals were crackers and manager Derek McInnes is getting some important players back from injury.

Big Sam Cosgrove opened the scoring with a deft touch, taking his tally for the season to 15 goals in 16 games.

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has a solution but I'm not sure the TV companies are going to change their schedules to help the Scottish coefficient in Europe.

"I can understand why a fixture like Aberdeen v Celtic should be on TV," he told today's newspapers. "It is a big game with the level of clubs and stuff. But there is no doubt about it in my mind that if Aberdeen v Celtic was at night you would see a better quality game because of the recovery time.

"I understand TV want to buy certain games. I think that’s where the governing body have got to help European teams and give you the 
kick-off that helps the players be more recovered. Because surely the players’ safety is better? Surely the outcome of Scottish football is very important? You have got to give the players time to recover and be in the best shape to go and entertain the people who are actually watching on the TV.

"For sure, you would prefer the later kick-off and you would prefer being at home. Especially if you have been travelling away like us. The worse one is being away and then you have to go away again and you have got a very early kick-off. That is hard to prepare for, not just physically, mentally as well."

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Of course, those European exploits do raise the prospect of fatigue. Can Aberdeen or Motherwell profit today?

Well, Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has been adept at rotating his squad and the Ibrox side have won every post-Europa League match this season, bar one - at home to Celtic on 1 September - when both sides were coming off a midweek fixture.

Celtic also boast good strength in depth but manager Neil Lennon tends to stick with the same core of players. They did slip up away to Livingston a couple of Sundays ago after their home win over Cluj of Romania, which offers Aberdeen a glimmer of hope.

Celtic and Rangers will be buoyed after fantastic results in the Europa League on Thursday.

Neil Lennon's men came from behind to beat Lazio 2-1 on a rousing night in the east end of Glasgow. The roof nearly came off the stadium when Christopher Jullien nodded in a late winner!

Rangers also fell behind on their trip to the Estadio do Dragao, with Luis Diaz thundering in a rocket, but they hit back swiftly through Alfredo Morelos and were more than a match for their big-spending hosts.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Celtic make two changes from the side that bested Lazio, with Tom Rogic replacing suspended playmaker Ryan Christie and teenager Jeremie Frimpong taking over from Hatem Elhamed, who picked up a knock on Thursday evening.

Frimpong, 18, was a blur of industry in last weekend's 6-0 win over Ross County, chipping in with an assist on his league debut.

He gets the nod ahead of Austria international Moritz Bauer, which is a big show of faith from manager Neil Lennon.

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Aberdeen deployed defenders Greg Leigh and Zak Vyner in midfield for last weekend's win at Motherwell and it looks like the roles will be repeated today as the home side make just one change.

Winger Connor McLennan takes over from James Wilson, who drops to the bench.

Midfielders Craig Bryson and Stephen Gleeson are fit enough to join him among the substitutes as they battle back from injuries but Lewis Ferguson is suspended, along with forward Curtis Main.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen: Lewis; Logan, Devlin, McKenna, Considine; McLennan, Gallagher, Vyner, Leigh, McGinn; Cosgrove

Substitutes: Cerny, Gleeson, Bryson, Campbell, Hedges, Wilson, Anderson

Celtic: Forster; Frimpong, Jullien, Ayer, Bolingoli; Brown, Rogic, McGregor, Elyounoussi, Forrest; Edouard

Substitutes: Gordon, Bitton, Bauer, Elhamed, Hayes, Sinclair, Bayo

Celtic and Rangers are locked on the same points and the same goal difference, with the champions leading the way by the slenderest of margins - one more goal scored.

Aberdeen and Motherwell look like contenders in the best of the rest race.

How about the Edinburgh clubs? That league table makes grim reading for Hibs and Hearts.

Image source, BBC Sport

We wave goodbye to British Summer Time and welcome back GMT, which we all know means Great Matches Today...

The top two are in action, with Celtic up at Pittodrie and Rangers at home to Motherwell later on.

With nothing between the Glasgow rivals, the stakes are high each week and that's the way we like it.

Image source, BBC Sport