Celtic vs St. Mirren Prediction: Celtic will have to step up against a strong Mirren side

On Wednesday, Celtic will be hosting St. Mirren at Celtic Park with the goal of bouncing back from a disappointing stalemate that they played over the weekend and moving further ahead in the standings of the Scottish Premiership. On Saturday, the hosts were held to a draw by Hibernian, but they continue to lead the pack of teams, following them by five points. Meanwhile, the visitors are in third place after getting back to winning ways in their most recent match.

Celtic come into this encounter after their most recent Premiership match ended in a scoreless draw against Hibernian. During that game, Celtic controlled possession for 71% of the time and had 21 shots on goal, with four of them finding the back of the net. On the other end of the field, Hibernian had six shots on goal, but only one of them was successful in hitting the target. In recent times, it has been much too uncommon for Celtic to go a whole game without giving up a goal. The fact of the matter is that Celtic have allowed goals to be scored against them in five of their most recent six matches, totaling seven goals conceded during that span of time. According to the information available prior to the game, Celtic have not lost to St. Mirren in any of their most recent three league contests. Celtic are now undefeated in their last 48 matches played at home in the league.

As they head to the nation's capital on the heels of a significant victory, the St. Mirren team that stands in their way will be looking to build on their own impressive start to the Scottish Premiership campaign. After finishing in sixth place the previous year, the Saints have established themselves in the top three in the early parts of the current campaign. They have gone seven matches without suffering a loss, picking up four wins and three draws along the way, scoring 11 goals while only allowing themselves to concede seven along the way, and have established themselves in the top three as a result. This winning streak was eventually broken by a 3-0 defeat at the hands of second-placed Rangers just before the international break. However, they bounced back in an impressive manner on their return to action last weekend, as Stephen Robinson's side hosted struggling St. Johnstone and handed out a 4-0 defeat to them. In the match that took place in Paisley, Keanu Baccus put them ahead to start the second half, Mikael Mandron scored twice in the second half, and Greg Kiltie scored the game's fourth and final goal in the game's final minutes. St. Mirren is currently in a satisfying position in third place after nine games, just three points behind Rangers and five points ahead of fifth-placed Kilmarnock, with a game in hand on both. To further strengthen their position at the top end of the division, St. Mirren will look to pull off a major upset at Celtic Park on Wednesday after holding Celtic to a 2-2 draw in the Scottish capital the last time the sides met in May.

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; O'Riley, McGregor, Turnbull; Maeda, Furuhashi, Palma

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Strain, Baccus, O'Hara, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Kiltie

St. Mirren have undoubtedly demonstrated their quality during the course of the season so far and will not be easy opponents on Wednesday. However, a trip to Celtic Park may be too much for them to handle, as we see the hosts outclassing them and claiming all three points on their own grounds.