Celtic will play their final game of 2021 this afternoon against St Johnstone in Perth. Ange Postecoglou’s men will kick off in Perth despite injuries and COVID-19 leaving a number of players out.
Callum Davidson’s side are bottom of the table after a dismal first half of the season, a far cry from the Cup Double success of last season. However, they will be a stern opponent, that will battle for everything.
Team News
Celtic appear to have been forced into a number of changes with key players missing out, whether as a result of COVID-19 or otherwise remains to be seen. Injuries have already hampered Celtic this season with players like Jota, James Forrest, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Albian Ajeti absentees with injuries but Celtic are today without a whole host of players – Joe Hart, Scott Bain, Conor Hazard, Greg Taylor, Tony Ralston and captain Callum McGregor.
The major shock comes in the form of Greek goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas, who starts for the first time since August. Barkas has been well and truly out the Celtic picture with Joe Hart arriving but the boss has decided to start him today as it appears that injuries have struck the goalkeepers.
In defence, the manager has gone with Carl Starfelt, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales. It is unclear who will be filling in at what positions given the amount of defenders playing. You would imagine Scales would be playing at LB and Welsh at RB.
In midfield, Nir Bitton takes the captain’s armband and he is joined by Tom Rogic and James McCarthy.
In attack, Josip Juranovic starts on the right, Liel Abada on the left and Kyogo through the middle.
On the bench: Mullen, Soro, Bolingoli, Dawson, Montgomery, Doak.
Kick Off Time
The game will kick off at 12:30pm (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
The game will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football, with coverage starting at 12.
For subscribers outside of the UK & Ireland, the game will be shown on Celtic TV.
The games on Boxing Day are usually a special occasion in the Scottish footballing calendar but after the recent Scottish Government announcement, just 500 supporters will be present in Perth. As a result of this latest curb to football fans, ten out of twelve clubs voted to bring forward the Winter Break to the 27th, meaning fixtures would go ahead on Boxing Day – albeit with limited numbers in grounds.