It’s Dundee’s turn again. Saturday sees the Dark Blues become the latest club charged with finding a way of halting Celtic’s utter dominance of the domestic game so far this season.
While there have been mishaps in the Champions League against the likes of Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach,when it comes to local business the Hoops have been well-nigh unstoppable under new manager Brendan Rodgers.
The only blip so far came in the shape of an away Premiership draw up at Inverness Caley Thistle in mid-September, when Rodgers’ team were probably still in shock from their 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Barca in the Nou Camp the previous midweek.
That Highlands stalemate apart, every other game against Scottish opposition has resulted in victory.
And so dominant have they been that, when Dundee lost 1-0 to them at Dens Park in October, it was widely regarded as the best result Paul Hartley’s men could probably have hoped for.
All that means is the answer to the question “how do Scottish teams better Celtic right now?” is they probably don’t.
Already defending champions, under former Liverpool manager Rodgers, there’s no question the Parkhead outfit are a vastly-improved team on the one that seldom impressed, even when lifting trophies, during Ronny Deila’s time in charge.
Rodgers’ work has seen them already lift the Betfred Cup via a trouble-free run and take what will surely prove an unassailable eight-point lead at the top of the Premiership, having played three games less than second-place Rangers.
That won’t stop Hartley and his Dundee squad working hard to come up with a plan to give them a chance of pulling off what would be the biggest shock of the season so far.
And it’s a safe bet a key component of that plan will be finding a way of stopping a player who’s a well-known old foe to Dundee fans.
He is Stuart Armstrong, the former Dundee United midfielder who enjoyed considerable city derby success during his time at Tannadice.
In all, the former Scotland U/21 skipper faced Dundee seven times while wearing the tangerine of United and his record read six victories and one draw.
And his crowning glory was a goal in United’s 6-2 hammering of their rivals on New Year’s Day last year.
By the end of the that month he was a Celtic player and, although it’s taken the 24-year-old time to settle into the way of things at his new employers, the bad news for Dundee is he’s now on top form.
Over the summer there was talk Armstrong would be no more than a squad player under Rodgers and it was even suggested he would be allowed to leave if he wished.
He stayed and the last couple of months have seen him emerge as a key player in midfield.
His last 10 games have seen him produce a string of starring performances and yielded five goals.
If his run continues into the new year, it looks certain he’ll earn a place in the Scotland squad those who worked with him from an early age were always certain would one day be his.
For Dundee, more urgent is finding a way to stop the kind of strong running from the middle of the park that damaged them so much in derbies.
The problem with paying particular attention to any one Celtic player right now is most others are also playing well.
Although he was benched for Friday night’s emphatic 4-1 win at Partick Thistle, red-hot striker Moussa Dembele looks certain to return to the Hoops’ starting line-up for this home fixture — 17 goals in 30 appearances since joining up from Fulham in the summer suggests that.
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