Celtic face St Mirren this evening at the SMISA Stadium in Paisley. The Scottish Champions beat Aberdeen 5-1 on Tuesday and sit 13 points clear at the top of the table going into today’s round of fixtures.
Today’s match in their last league game before hosting theRangers at Celtic Park. They play Motherwell at Ibrox in a 3pm kick-off.
Celtic have beaten St Mirren 3-0 in their two previous meetings with Stephen Robinson’s side this season. However, their recent home and away wins over theRangers show that they are more than capable of landing punches on teams with bigger budgets.
Team News
There are no major updates in the team news other than Greg Taylor, who returns after missing the win over Aberdeen after his wife went into hospital for the birth of their daughter. The Scotland Internationalist will hope to come into the team and compete with Jefferey Schlupp for the starting role at left back. James Forrest is working his way back from injury and Paulo Bernardo remains out for a few more weeks.
Kasper Schmeichel will start in goals. Expect the backline from midweek to continue with Schlupp and Alistair Johnston at fullback with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty in the central pairing. Mikael Mandron has been a standout for the Saints and the backline will need to marshall him accordingly.
Callum McGregor will start in the heart of the midfield with Arne Engels and Reo Hatate, although Brendan may be tempted to rest Reo and give Luke McCowan the nod. Â That’s more likely a change for the 60th minute.
In attack, Adam Idah could come back into the team to lead the line with Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn in the wide areas. However it’s perhaps more likely that Daizen will start through the middle with Kühn and Jota on the wings.
Idah will look to provide an impact from the bench along with Yang and McCowan.
Predicted Celtic XI: Schmeichel; Schlupp, Trusty, Carter-Vickers, Johnston; McGregor, Engels, Hatate; Kühn, Maeda and Jota.
Referee Details
The SFA have appointed Matthew MacDermid as the referee for the game.
The 31-year-old will be assisted by Calum Spence and Steven Traynor. Meanwhile, at Clydesdale House, Andrew Dallas is on VAR with Alan Mulvanny assisting.
This will be MacDermid’s third Celtic game of the season. The referee took charge of Celtic’s 4–0 victory over St Johnstone at Celtic Park. In January, McDiarmid oversaw Celtic’s 4–1 win against Ross County in Dingwall.
Kick Off Time
The game kicks off at 5:30pm (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
The game will be shown on Sky Sports Football with coverage from Paisley starting at 5pm. Celtic TV subscribers outside Britain and Ireland will be able to tune in to watch the game from 5:15pm.
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