Philippe Clement, Makenzie Kirk and Dundee Utd v Celtic in focus

Will Sunday prove to be a happy anniversary for United?

It will be almost exactly a decade since Celtic last lost at Tannadice, when goals from Nadir Ciftci and Stuart Armstrong, who would both go on to play for the visitors, put United on their way to victory before a late Leigh Griffiths reply.

That was on Sunday, 21 December 2014 and Tannadice has been a happy hunting ground since then for the Glasgow side, who are unbeaten there in 11 visits, winning seven and scoring 18 goals in their latest five.

Half of them came in a famous victory in August 2022, with striker Kyogo Furuhashi, who is one of five survivors of the starting line-up that day still in the squad, grabbing a hat-trick.

Celtic would go on to win their 53rd Scottish league title that season and can concentrate on consolidating their pole position in this campaign after securing their first silverware of the season with Sunday’s League Cup final thriller against Rangers.

Brendan Rodgers’ side arrive on Tayside for their first meeting of the season with United unbeaten in 15 games, seven of them away from Celtic Park, since that 7-1 Champions League hammering by Borussia Dortmund. That remains their only defeat in 25 outings this season.

With second-placed Aberdeen and Rangers both at home on Saturday, Celtic may find their lead at the top has been reduced by the time it comes to the noon kick-off, but there have been no signs this season of that kind of pressure having any effect.

Being nine points ahead of the Dons – and two more clear of their city rivals – gives plenty of leeway in any case as they seek a 10th consecutive away league victory.

Indeed, with 14 wins and a draw, this is Celtic’s joint-best start to a league season after 15 games, the same as seasons 2001-02, 2003-04, and 2016-17.

They are also undefeated in 19 meetings overall against United, who suffered a 4-3 defeat at Motherwell on Saturday to lose fourth place to their hosts.

However, a visit to Tannadice should be still be one of Celtic’s toughest domestic tests, with Jim Goodwin’s promoted side having gone into that game on a five-game unbeaten run of their own.