St Mirren vs Celtic 13/08/20

13 August 2020

St Mirren and Celtic will lock horns at the Simple Digital Arena this midweek, as the traveling side look to post a third straight win in their Scottish Premiership away H2Hs.

The hosts have failed to build on a 1-0 home win over Livingston on the opening matchday of the season, as they go into this clash on the back of a 3-0 thrashing to Rangers. Notably, both of those matches saw the opener coming inside the first 30 minutes of play. For St Mirren, goals have been at a premium this calendar year, as they’ve bagged under 1.5 goals in seven of eight competitive home games since the calendar flipped. Also, just two of their last seven home clashes have seen both teams score, with all featuring under 2.5 goals (W2, D4, L1). The ‘Buddies’ are unlikely to find a more challenging opponent than a Celtic side they’ve lost to in 19 of their last 21 top-flight H2Hs (D2).

After an inspirational start to the season that saw them dismantle Hamilton 5-1 at home, the visitors were held to a 1-1 away draw to Kilmarnock. Curiously, both of those fixtures saw Celtic break the deadlock inside the opening 20 minutes of play and move on to concede precisely once before the break. Although a draw with Kilmarnock helped Celtic maintain an unbeaten Premiership record this calendar year (W11, D2), it was the first time since the turn of 2020 that the ‘Hoops’ have failed to net over 1.5 match goals. Neil Lennon’s men now head to St Mirren, where they’ve run out winners in nine of their previous 11 top-flight trips (D2), preventing their hosts from scoring on eight of those occasions.