Two teams at opposite ends of the Scottish Premiership table will meet on Saturday when St Johnstone make the trip to face Celtic, with both teams needing points for different reasons.

The Hoops will be aiming to continue their momentum after winning the Old Firm derby, while the visitors are fighting in the relegation battle.

Match preview

Celtic's Georgios Giakoumakis celebrates scoring their second goal with Greg Taylor on March 19, 2022 © Reuters

Celtic were able to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership by winning the Old Firm derby last weekend in a closely-contested game.

Despite the fact Aaron Ramsey had given Rangers a third-minute lead, the Hoops battled back with Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers both getting on the scoresheet.

The victory has led to the club boasting a six-point lead over their rivals, and in the final match before the league splits, Celtic will have the chance to maintain that gap.

Ange Postecoglou's team are undefeated in their previous six fixtures in all competitions heading into this one, but their record in the league alone is even more impressive.

Celtic have not been beaten since September 19 in the Scottish Premiership, stringing together an impressive 26-game run.

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson pictured on August 5, 2021 © Reuters

St Johnstone are also enjoying three consecutive matches without a loss, despite the fact that they are currently 11th in the table.

Callum Davidson's team will find themselves in the bottom half when the division is split after this round of games, and they are still battling to survive relegation.

Only six points separate them and St Mirren, putting plenty of pressure on each match, although they have failed to win in their three previous meetings with Celtic.

The Saints have only won three games on the road this season, and they are the only team to not reach double digits in terms of goals away from home.

However, St Johnstone should have some confidence based on their recent results, particularly the 1-0 victory against Livingston last weekend.

Celtic Scottish Premiership form:

Celtic form (all competitions):

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:

Team News

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates after the match on March 14, 2022 © Reuters

Despite some hopes that he would be fit after returning to training, Kyogo Furuhashi was not able to return against Rangers, and he continues to be a doubt heading into this weekend.

James Forrest was another member of the Celtic squad that was not able to feature last weekend due to a niggle, and he also has question marks surrounding him for Saturday.

St Johnstone were dealt a major injury blow as Tony Gallacher has been ruled out for the remainder of this season due to a fractured leg.

The Saints could also be without Daniel Cleary, as he has had stitches in his foot after a knock.

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor; Rogic, McGregor, Bitton; Jota, Maeda, Giakoumakis

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Gordon, Mahon, McCart; Rooney, Hallberg, Davidson, May, Crawford; Hendry, Ciftci

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We say: Celtic 3-1 St Johnstone

This match is an important one for both teams, as each club is desperate to pick up points for their own distinct reasons.

While St Johnstone will no doubt put plenty of fight into this one, Celtic are likely going to take all three points with their quality set to be the difference.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 87.58%. A draw had a probability of 9.5% and a win for St Johnstone had a probability of 2.97%.

The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 2-0 with a probability of 15.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (15.13%) and 1-0 (10.95%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (4.28%), while for a St Johnstone win it was 0-1 (1.49%). The actual scoreline of 7-0 was predicted with a 1.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Celtic would win this match.