Jim Goodwin wants to stop Celtic becoming the Grinch that ruins Dundee United's Christmas at Tannadice

Jim Goodwin wants Dundee United to put on a performance to stop Celtic becoming the Grinch that ruins Christmas at Tannadice.

United have a big job on their hands as the unbeaten domestic leaders head to Tannadice on Sunday. It is the last match before the festive fun and Goodwin wants his United players to hand their fans an early Christmas present against the Hoops. Goodwin, who recently saw his side take a point away from Ibrox, said: “It'll be a full house and it'll obviously be the last game before Christmas so we don't want to be ruining anybody's festive period so fingers crossed.

“We haven't played them yet and we've got to play them twice in a number of weeks. We're hoping to obviously deny them space and to try and have a good defensive shape about ourselves.

“We can't make the same mistakes we made last Saturday (against Motherwell) or we'll get punished again but at the same time then you've got to try and come up with a plan offensively where we think we can cause them one or two problems as well.

“It's trying to get the balance right when you're playing against such a good opponent that you can't leave yourself wide open and get punished because of the space but you've also got to try and impose yourself on the opposition as well.”

Celtic will also travel north on the high of lifting the Premier Sports Cup last weekend against Rangers. Goodwin admitted: “It (the final)was really entertaining and end to end. “Obviously, Celtic came out on top in the end. That's what they do.

“We know we've got a big task on our hands on Sunday. Nobody's managed to beat Celtic yet in the league. They've only dropped two points all season, only conceded four goals and scored an obscene amount of goals.

“We know that it's going