Celtic registered back to back league wins after weeks of catastrophe and have regained their confidence to some extent ahead of travelling to Renfrewshire to lock horns with St. Mirren. The Buddies have already shocked the Hoops a couple of weeks ago at Celtic Park and are expected to threaten again this midweek to continue their upsurge.
Rangers are only a few wins away from lifting their first Premiership title in 10 years, and Neil Lennon with little hope left this season, must motivate his men to push it as far as possible to maintain the relevance of the Old Firm derby scheduled one and a half months later.
Predicted 4-1-2-1-2 Celtic Lineup To Face St. Mirren
Defence
Celtic have switched to a midfield diamond since suffering the home defeat against the Buddies, and the gaffer has dropped a few of his first-team names who have been underperforming throughout the campaign. Custodian Vasilis Barkas has lost his place to Scott Bain. However, the latter, too, has failed to bring back the stability between the sticks, particularly against Motherwell last weekend when his positioning was questioned for the goal scored by Allan Campbell midway through the second half. Yet the Scotsman is likely to have a run of games until the Greece international attunes to the demands of the Scottish game.
Stephen Welsh was exquisite in the heart of the backline and is tipped to partner Kristoffer Ajer once more for the Paisley trip. Jonjoe Kenny has joined on loan from Everton and has done well to fill the void left by Jeremie Frimpong down the right-back slot. Being preferred over Diego Laxalt, Greg Taylor must make use of his chances now to ensure a long-term future at Parkhead after a slow start to life since joining from Kilmarnock.
Midfield
In his usual deep-lying role, the return of Scott Brown has restored some stability in the middle of the park. His physicality, combativeness and aggression have helped the Bhoys dominate the midfield game. His presence has also allowed Callum McGregor to operate further forward with his down the middle runs and long balls.
David Turnbull has been the brightest spark in Celtic’s gloomy campaign, and his creativity would be the key to troubling the resolute St. Mirren defence. Meanwhile, Lennon has opted for Tom Rogic in recent games and might rely on the 28-year-old once again. The Aussie wizard is slowly regaining his lost form, and the ‘number 10’ role still suits him more than any other Hoops star.
Attack
Odsonne Edouard is back among goals after a rough run of form in the first half of the season. His first-half equaliser did not make any difference in the reverse tie, and the famous ‘French Eddie’ would want to make it count this time at St Mirren Park. Albian Ajeti was not really effective against Motherwell but should retain his place ahead of Leigh Griffiths who is likely to be introduced at some stage of the fixture.
