Celtic face St Johnstone this afternoon as Brendan Rodgers’ side look to prepare for their trip to face theRangers at Ibrox with three points against the Scottish Premiership’s bottom of the table club…
Celtic extended their lead at the top of the table on Boxing Day with a 4-0 win at home to Motherwell while theRangers slumped to a 2-1 defeat at St Mirren later in the day. That has resulted in yet another glorious meltdown and has achieved the impossible in getting both Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd to agree on something – that Philippe Clement cannot survive anything other that a win a Fir Park today and his first ever victory over Celtic on 2 January at Ibrox in the Dead Rubber Derby…
Celtic has won 26 of the last 30 meetings with St Johnstone in all competitions since Ronny Deila’s Champions lost a dead rubber in May 2016. St Johnstone are winless in 16 visits to Celtic Park with 4 draws and 12 defeats since a 1-0 victory in March 2015 when Tommy Wright was in charge of the Perthshire Saints. Daniel Swanson scores the St Johnstone winner that day.
For Celtic Kyogo has been directly involved in nine goals his last six league appearances against St Johnstone for Celtic, scoring six and assisting for the other three. Good choice for first scorer today for those who like a flutter at the game.
Celtic Team News
Brendan has confirmed that Alistair Johnston will be available for selection; however, it remains to be seen what role the fullback has this afternoon with a trip to Ibrox looming. With that fixture in mind, Brendan may consider making some changes to the starting XI to ensure that his squad is ticking over nicely, with the Canadian likely to get some minutes from the bench to warm him up for Ibrox.
Kasper Schmeichel will be the Celtic goalkeeper as per usual the back four could look like this: Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Alex Valle. Expect rotation in the middle of the park with Luke McCowan and Reo Hatate starting alongside the Celtic captain Callum McMcGregor. Up front Nicolas Kuhn could be back in the starting line-up after returning from injury from the bench against Motherwell on Boxing Day. Kyogo to lead the line and Daizen to play on the left wing.
On the Celtic substitutes bench today could be Sinisalo, Taylor, Bernardo, Engels, Palma, Nawrocki,, Welsh, Trusty, Idah and Yang.
Match Officials
Matthew MacDermid will be the referee. MacDermid will be assisted by Frank Connor and David Dunne. Meanwhile at Clydesdale House, David Dickinson is on VAR with Graeme Leslie assisting.
Kick Off Time
The game will kick off at 3pm (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
The game will not be available on TV or PPV. However, Celtic TV subscribers outside Britain and Ireland will be able to watch on the club’s streaming service.
Predicted Score
Celtic will look to wrap up a brilliant 2024 with a victory to achieve an unbeaten record at Celtic Park, having only lost to of the 49 matches played in the calendar year. Expect Celtic to achieve this today with a 4-0 victory with Kyogo getting in among the goals, maybe getting a double.
Keep an eye on events at Fir Park as there may be some comedy gold to enjoy as Motherwell entertain theRangers…
Enjoy the game and COYBIG!
