Celtic face St Mirren in Paisley this evening as Ange Postecoglou’s side returns to Cinch Premiership duty after beating Hibs to win the League Cup on Sunday. In what could potentially be the final game before the Winter Break, Celtic are facing a much depleted St Mirren team, who have suffered a COVID-19 outbreak amongst the playing squad.
Team News
Celtic are limited in terms of their personnel given injuries but showed their resilience at the National Stadium at the weekend. Postecoglou has often found ways to get his teams playing despite key players missing. We would expect that if the injury list continues with Jota, Giakoumakis, Ajeti, Forrest and Jullien sidelined then the manager may have to introduce more regular roles for youth players like Owen Moffat.
Kyogo and Mikey Johnston started the final but both were substituted in the second half. The manager may deem the trip to Paisley as being too soon for the attacking duo, instead leaning on Liel Abada, Adam Montgomery, Josip Juranovic and Moffat in the attacking positions.
David Turnbull suffered from a hamstring strain at the weekend, meaning he will miss the game tonight as they await the results of his scan. Carl Starfelt is suspended after receiving a second yellow at Dingwall.
Predicted XI: Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Welsh, Taylor; McGregor, Bitton, Rogic; Moffat, Abada, Juranovic.
Kick Off Time
The game will kick off at 19:45 (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
After Sky Sports elected not to pick up Celtic’s trip to Paisley, the game will now be available via a PPV provided by the Buddies. The game costs £14.99 and is available via this link.
It is expected that the SPFL will discuss the possibility of bringing the Winter Break forward in order to combat the decision by the Scottish Government to reduce fan numbers to just 500 for three weeks beginning on Boxing Day. This means that three Celtic game will be impacted, a trip to face St Johnstone in Perth and then two home games against Hibs and Rangers.