Celtic vs St Mirren: Betting Odds & Prediction
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Champions Celtic take on St Mirren at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon as they look to maintain their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Kick-off is set for 3pm UK time.
Recent Form
Celtic
League leaders Celtic return to home action following the pulsating 3-3 Old Firm Derby draw against Rangers, knowing nothing but a win will do in the SPFL title race. The Hoops come into Saturday’s clash with one defeat in their last 15 matches, eleven of which ended in victory.
Celtic come into Saturday as the league's highest scorers (77) with an average expected goals (xG) tally of 2.4. 39 of those goals have been scored on home soil, with Celtic failing to score in just two of their home matches so far.
They've also suffered just one defeat at Celtic Park in the league while conceding just 26 goals so far. Five of Celtic's 12 clean sheets have occurred on home turf.
St Mirren
St Mirren head into the fixture in patchy form, having only won one game in their last five matches. They currently sit in fifth place, five points behind fourth-placed Kilmarnock.
Away from home, St Mirren find themselves middle of the road in sixth place in the away table, with only 16 points collected on their travels (W4 D4 L8). They have also not won on the road since early February, when they secured a 3-0 win at Hibernian.
From those 16 games, they have only managed 17 goals on the road whilst averaging an xG of only 1.02 per game. This is further compounded by their failure to score in six away matches this season, which equates to 38% of their games on the road.
Conceding goals has been a problem; their 24 shipped in away fixtures leaves them with an average of 1.5 per game, with only 19% ended in a clean sheet.
Prediction
Celtic predictably enter as strong favourites given their standing as the division's leaders. Not only have they won 11 of their 15 home fixtures, but one-third of these have also ended in clean sheet. Coupled with the away side's goalscoring struggles on the road, another Celtic shutout is a real possibility as they look to maintain their lead at the top of the table.