Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Scottish Premiership match.
After a challenging encounter with Rangers, St. Mirren now face an even tougher test against Celtic, the reigning champions and undisputed leaders of Scottish football. Fortunately for them, they have the support of their home crowd, which might offer some assistance.
St. Mirren
After an impressive away win against Rangers (2:0), St. Mirren had a chance to solidify their position in the top six, but in their second consecutive away match, they were beaten by what was once considered the third-best team in Scotland, Hearts of Midlothian (1:3). The issue for St. Mirren is that their home form has not given them much of an advantage. In fact, they haven’t won at Paisley in four consecutive Premiership matches. Their last home victory, ironically, came against Rangers (2:1). It’s a strange position to be in, with their best form coming against the top teams.
Celtic
The reigning champions, however, won’t be undone by such issues. Despite fatigue from a grueling second leg in the Champions League playoffs against Bayern Munich, Celtic quickly recovered for their next league match. They lost the first to Hibernian (1:2), who had been in good form, but then bounced back with a dominant 5:1 victory over Aberdeen. Celtic have been scoring freely lately, with 8 of their last 9 matches ending with over 2.5 goals.
St. Mirren vs Celtic Prediction
St. Mirren will struggle to avoid both a heavy defeat and a high-scoring match. The last four head-to-head encounters between these two teams have seen similar outcomes. The most frequent result has been a 3:0 victory for Celtic.
