Celtic host St Johnstone at Parkhead on Wednesday hoping to open up clear water between themselves and the chasing pack in the race for the Scottish Premiership title.
Brendan Rodgers’ men have established a three-point lead at the summit of the standings but can extend that to six as they play a game in hand against the Perth side.
On Saturday, the Hoops romped past Hamilton 3-0 in a routine fashion but they will not expect to get things so easy against opponents who are chasing a top-six finish but lost 2-0 to Hearts at the weekend.
After this clash, the sides will meet again on Sunday at McDiarmid Park.
| Game | Celtic vs St Johnstone |
| Date | Wednesday, January 30 |
| Time | 7:45pm GMT / 2:45pm ET |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched via Celtic TV.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | Celtic TV |
In the UK, the game will not be broadcast or available for live streaming.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | N/A |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Celtic squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Gordon, Bain, De Vries |
| Defenders | Simunovic, Ajer, Hendry, Compper, Izaguirre, Miller, Lustig, Gamboa, Ralston |
| Midfielders | Bitton, Mulumbu, Brown, Allan, Benyu, Forrest, Christie, Hayes, Sinclair, Morgan, Rogic, McGregor |
| Forwards | Johnston, Burke, Weah, Edouard |
Celtic have suffered a blow as the leg problem picked up by Filip Benkovic at the weekend is set to rule him out for the rest of the season.
He joins a long list of injuries that are troubling manager Brendan Rodgers, the headline names of which are Kieran Tierney, Dedryck Boyata, Olivier Ntcham and January signing Vakoun Bayo.
Tom Rogic is back with the squad after Asian Cup duty but he will not be ready to play in this match, while Leigh Griffiths remains on a leave of absence.
Odsonne Edouard is hopeful of returning to provide competition for Olivier Burke and Tim Weah in the No.9 role.
Possible Celtic starting XI: Bain; Lustig, Simunovic, Ajer, Izaguirre; Brown, McGregor; Forrest, Christie, Sinclair; Burke
| Position | St Johnstone squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Clark, Mitchell, Hurst |
| Defenders | Shaughnessy, Kerr, Anderson, Gordon, Tanser, Easton, Foster, Comrie |
| Midfielders | Davidson, Callachan, McCann, Wotherspoon, Alston, Craig, Swanson, Scougall |
| Forwards | O'Halloran, Kennedy, Watt, Kane, McMillan, Henry |
St Johnstone are without a trio of starters as Conor Mitchell, Brian Easton and Drey Wright are sidelined.
Typically, they adopt a very compact and defensive approach when they tackle Celtic and that is likely to be the case again on Wednesday.
Jason Kerr is expected to start, despite interest from Barnsley.
Possible St Johnstone starting XI: Clark; Foster, Kerr, Shaughnessy, Tanser; Wotherspoon, Callachan, Davidson, Craig, Kennedy; Watt
Betting & Match Odds
Celtic are favourites to come out on top, with bet365 offering odds of 1/6 on a Bhoys victory. St Johnstone are considered a 16/1 bet to win, while a draw is 11/2.
Match Preview
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Celtic have the opportunity to take a firm grasp of the Scottish Premiership title race on Wednesday when they play host to St Johnstone.
The Parkhead side cruised to a simple victory over Hamilton at the weekend, with goals from Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and Scott Sinclair giving the Hoops a straightforward success. They were not, however, at their slickest, with two goalkeeping errors helping their cause significantly.
Rodgers pinned some of the reasoning down to the hybrid Celtic Park surface, which has been suffering from a disease in recent times.
“The pitch is obviously a bit slower with the issues it has so that slows our game a fraction, but I thought a lot of our combination play and the structure of our game against this kind of team, was very pleasing,” he commented after the weekend’s match.
Celtic’s recent record against St Johnstone has been strong, with 18 wins in their last 24 matches against the Perth club at home, while they presently have a perfect record at Parkhead in the league this season, having won all 11 fixtures.
St Johnstone, though, boast the best away record in the division, having claimed 21 points from 11 matches.
After a 2-0 loss at Hearts on Saturday, manager Tommy Wright was not happy.
“It was probably the worst performance in a while,” he commented after the game. “Not a lot come out with credit. To win any game of football you've got to compete, we were lacklustre and were dominated for large parts of the game. We got what we deserved.
“If you can't do the basics well and pass from A to B you're not going to win football matches.”
Far more is needed, then, if they are to put a spoke in the wheel of Celtic’s title push.
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