Celtic face St Mirren this evening in the Cinch Premiership as Ange Postecoglou’s side return to league duty after securing their place in the Viaplay Cup Final next month. The Scottish Champions are nine points clear but will be looking to put pressure on theRangers, who play Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, with the game kicking off fifteen minutes later.
The Saints have the third-best defensive record in the league, something that will form the basis of Stephen Robinson’s gameplan this evening; however, Celtic will need to be lethal in attack.
Team News
The manager said that he would make changes for tonight’s game from the team that beat Kilmarnock as he looks to freshen up the team. Sead Hakšabanović, Stephen Welsh, Tony Ralston and James McCarthy are back in contention having returned from injury. Greg Taylor remains out from the hamstring knock picked up against theRangers in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox at the start of the month.
In goals, Joe Hart will start. Benjamin Siegrist hasn’t been seen since the end of December with Conor Hazard training with the first team. Scott Bain was on the bench at the weekend.
In defence, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt will likely start. Yuki Kobayashi will likely make his debut at some stage in the evening. Alistair Johnston will be keen to get back into the starting XI, despite Josip Juranovic’s impressive return at Hampden. Alexandro Bernabei toiled against Killie but he’ll be keen to make amends against The Buddies.
In midfield, Callum McGregor will start at the base of the Celtic midfield. You would expect that David Turnbull and Matt O’Riley would be keen to be in from the start. However, Aaron Mooy and Reo Hatate will likely hope to retain their places – despite what Ange has said.
In attack, Liel Abada would hope to come into the team as would James Forrest. Giorgos Giakoumakis is still training with Celtic, despite reports that he may be away to Japan. It would be good to see him start, especially with the manager looking to change the starting XI.
Predicted XI
Almost certain to be different from this one but here’s our guess for tonight’s Celtic team that Ange Postecoglou might select…
Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Bernabei; McGregor, Hatate, O’Riley; Jota, Giakoumakis, Abada.
Match Officials
Tonight’s referee is our old friend Steven McLean and he is assisted by Calum Spence and Graham McNeillie. The Fourth Official is Iain Snedden and another old buddy of ours – Andrew Dallas – is on ludge-VAR duties. Dallas is assisted by Sean Carr.
Kick Off Time
The game kicks off at 7:45pm (Celtic Park time).
Where to Watch
For supporters outside Britain and Ireland, the game is available on Celtic TV. For those that are within this region, you can watch the game on Celtic’s PPV stream, costing £12.99.
🟢 MIDWEEK MATCHDAY ⚪️
🆚 St Mirren
🏆 #cinchPrem
⌚ 7:45pm
🏟️ Celtic Park
💻 Live on @CelticTV (exc. UK & IRE)
🌍 Live in UK & IRE on StreamDigital PPV: https://t.co/WZpqTNJbDZ
#CELSTM | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG 🍀 pic.twitter.com/Z0MlBjePhY— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 18, 2023
