Preview: St Johnstone vs. Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Celtic will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Boxing Day after they were held to a draw in their most recent outing when they face St Johnstone.

The hosts are at the foot of the table right now and four points adrift of safety, placing an increasing amount of pressure on them as the season progresses and games run out.

Match preview

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St Johnstone have only managed to win three games throughout the entire season, which has been a major factor in their struggles as they sit bottom of the league heading into Boxing Day.

The Saints have not picked up three points since the end of October, and more worryingly they have only scored twice in the eight matches that followed that victory.

Their lack of goals has been a major concern for Callum Davidson, as his team have only managed to find the back of the net 10 times throughout this campaign.

St Johnstone lost an important six-pointer during their most recent outing against Ross County, who currently sit just outside of the relegation zone.

Even though Jacob Butterfield had drawn them level in the 19th minute, the Saints were not able to hang on to the draw as Ross Callachan gave the Staggies all three points with a second-half goal.

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Celtic were also left frustrated during their most recent outing as they dropped two points against St Mirren, which allowed Rangers to increase their gap at the top of the lead.

The Hoops played out a goalless draw with Buddies, despite the fact they had 80% of the possession and 30 shots throughout the match, showcasing their dominance.

This allowed the gap between them and the Gers to grow to six points, which adds further pressure on the team this Sunday as they do not want that to grow any further.

Celtic did manage to win the Scottish League Cup recently, providing the team with plenty to celebrate, but the focus will firmly now be back on the SPL.

The two squads have already met twice this season and the Hoops won both times without conceding a goal, which they will be hoping to repeat.

Team News

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St Johnstone have had a host of COVID-19 related issues with Chris Kane, Eetu Vertainen, Shaun Rooney and Zander Clark all having missed out recently, and their potential involvement will depend on negative tests and how long is left on their isolation.

Away from that, the Saints are also missing David Wotherspoon for the entire season due to a cruciate ligament injury, and Cameron MacPherson due to a groin issue.

Celtic have been rocked by injuries as of late with a lot of problems affecting the team, and Joe Hart was the latest to be part of that list, as he did not feature against St Mirren.

At the other end of the field, there have been issues as well, with Kyogo Furuhashi being injured recently, while Jota, David Turnbull and James Forrest are also unavailable.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Parish; Brown, Dendoncker, Gordon, McCart, Booth; Bryson, Davidson, Butterfield; O'Halloran, May

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Scales, Welsh, Carter-Vickers, Ralston; Bitton, Moffat, McGregor, Rogic, Johnston; Abada

We say: St Johnstone 0-2 Celtic

Even with all of Celtic's injury issues, they should still have enough quality for them to win this match, especially with the attacking quality the team have.

They have dominated the league throughout this season and given St Johnstone's struggles, anything other than a victory for the Hoops would be a shock.

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