Celtic welcome St Mirren to a Parkhead on Saturday afternoon for what looks like being an intriguing Scottish Premiership encounter.
While the pressure on Celts manager Neil Lennon has not lifted after a midweek home win over Hamilton Academical, the Paisley Saints bounced back in style from their weekend League Cup semi-final defeat.
Match preview
© Reuters
Neil Lennon will have been very relieved to see his team beat Hamilton 2-0 at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening, especially given the Bhoys' recent run of form.
The Hoops had not won in four games before that victory, with a 1-0 defeat at Rangers at the beginning of January being followed up by a home draw with Hibernian.
Two successive draws with League Cup finalists Livingston followed, and the club's famously passionate support appears to have lost patience with the manager.
That run of four games without a win was the club's longest such run since 2000, and their title chances appear to have evaporated, especially given that Rangers have a 23-point lead over them at the top of the league ladder.
© Reuters
Celtic face a St Mirren team that recovered from their 1-0 defeat to Livingston in the League Cup semi-final last Sunday by hammering Dundee United at Tannadice.
Jamie McGrath scored from the penalty spot twice as the Buddies beat the Arabs 5-1 to banish any blues that might have been lingering after the League Cup exit.
That result means that the pressure is really off the men from Paisley for their trip to Celtic Park on Saturday, and that could make them dangerous.
The Saints are now in seventh place in the Scottish Premiership table and will be eyeing a top-half finish for the season.
This St Mirren team are hard to beat and Goodwin has clearly put together a squad of players that trust him and each other. Celtic might well find them tough nuts to crack on Saturday in the East End of Glasgow.
History is against the Saints, though, with Celtic having won their last 14 home games against them in all competitions. They have also kept a clean sheet against the Buddies in nine of their last 11 home clashes in all competitions.
Celtic Scottish Premiership form: WLDDDW
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: LLDDLW
St Mirren form (all competitions): LDDLLW
Team News
© Reuters
Odsonne Edouard returned to the Celts' lineup for the win over Hamilton, and rewarded his manager's faith in him with a goal, so it looks likely he will continue his partnership with Leigh Griffiths on Saturday.
Scott Brown is available for selection again after being suspended against the Accies following a red card against Livingston.
Christopher Jullien is still out with a knee problem, while James Forrest also continues his recovery from an ankle injury.
For St Mirren, Cameron MacPherson has served his suspension following a red card in the recent defeat to St Johnstone and is available for selection again.
Collin Quaner has a knee injury that is expected to keep him out until the middle of February, while Jake Doyle-Hayes suffered a knock recently and is a doubt for the weekend.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Ajer, Bitton, Duffy, Taylor; Turnbull, Soro, McGregor, Elyounoussi; Griffiths, Edouard
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait; McGrath, Flynn, MacPherson, Erhahon, Durmus; Brophy
We say: Celtic 1-0 St Mirren
While St Mirren will be feeling confident after their midweek demolition of Dundee United, a trip to Parkhead is always a daunting prospect for the Paisley Saints.
We think that Celtic will win, but only narrowly, and a 1-0 scoreline will do little to lift the pressure on Lennon's shoulders.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Celtic win with a probability of 72.18%. A draw had a probability of 17.5% and a win for St Mirren had a probability of 10.32%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.66%) and 3-0 (9.79%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.32%), while for a St Mirren win it was 0-1 (3.71%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 3% likelihood.
