Fresh from their first Scottish Premiership defeat for nearly eight months, champions Celtic will look to return to winning ways when they welcome St Mirren to Parkhead on Saturday.

While the Hoops boast an impressive unbeaten home record in the top flight, winning 16 of their 17 matches on their own turf, the Buddies have only won three of their 17 away games so far this season.

Match preview

For the first time since losing 2-0 away against St Mirren in mid-September, Celtic were condemned to defeat in the Premiership at the hands of their bitter Old Firm rivals Rangers, who secured a 3-0 victory at Ibrox last weekend.

Having previously beaten the Gers four times in all competitions this term, the Hoops found themselves two goals down inside the opening 34 minutes through strikes from Todd Cantwell and John Souttar, before Fashion Sakala rubbed salt into the wounds with a third midway through the second half.

Nevertheless, Ange Postecoglou's men hold the title of Scotland's finest after clinching the top-flight crown two weeks ago, and they still boast a 10-point lead over second-placed Rangers with three games remaining.

Celtic, who have accumulated 95 points from 35 games so far this season, have already bettered last season's points tally of 93 and will now endeavour to reach the 100-point mark for just the third time in their history, having previously notched up a century under Brendan Rodgers in 2016-17 (106 points) and under Martin O'Neill in 2001-02 (102 points).

The Hoops will be confident of returning to winning ways on Saturday as they have won each of their last three meetings with St Mirren this year by an aggregate score of 14-1, as well as winning 18 of their last 19 home encounters with the Buddies.

Following a run of three successive defeats, St Mirren appeared to be on course to secure all three points against Hearts last weekend as goals from Joe Shaughnessy and Ryan Strain put them in control heading into the final 20 minutes.

However, the Buddies threw away their two-goal lead against 10 men, with Peter Haring's dismissal taking place either side of strikes from Josh Ginnelly and Lawrence Shankland, the latter of whom netted a dramatic 96th-minute penalty to snatch a point at the death for the visitors.

Stephen Robinson was left "absolutely gutted" with the result that has dealt a major blow to their chances of qualifying for Europe, as they now sit sixth in the Premiership table, four points behind fourth-placed Hearts with three games remaining.

Nevertheless, St Mirren can take pride from accumulating 45 points from 35 Premiership matches, their joint-highest points tally in a single top-flight campaign in the 21st century, having previously picked up 45 points two seasons ago.

The Paisley-based outfit head to Parkhead having won only two of their last 16 away matches in all competitions, but the club's supporters are sure to reminisce about the aforementioned 2-0 victory over Celtic earlier this season, and another triumph on Saturday would see the Buddies record two wins over the Hoops in the same season for the first time since 1989-90.

Team News

Celtic will be without injured quartet Cameron Carter-Vickers, Alistair Johnston, Stephen Welsh and James McCarthy, the former of whom is set to miss the rest of the season with a knee problem.

The Hoops' failure to score last weekend for the first time since mid-October coincided with Postecoglou's decision to rest top scorer and PFA Scotland Player of the Year Kyogo Furuhashi; the 24-goal Japanese forward could return to the first XI against St Mirren, though, at the expense of Oh Hyeon-gyu.

Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor were also taken out of the starting lineup last time out, but Postecoglou will consider recalling the duo on Saturday at the expense of Liel Abada and Alexandro Bernabei respectively.

As for St Mirren, Tony Watt is expected to miss the rest of the campaign after sustaining an ankle injury in training earlier this month, while Jonah Ayunga is also in the treatment room with knee ligament damage.

Alex Greive and Curtis Main are therefore set to retain their places in attack, while a midfield three of Mark O'Hara – who scored in the 2-0 win over Celtic in September – Greg Kiltie and Alex Gogic will likely remain intact.

Robinson is expected to stick with a back five, with Strain and Scott Tanser occupying full-back roles either side of centre-back trio Shaughnessy, Marcus Fraser and either Richard Taylor or Charles Dunne.

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Ralston, Starfelt, Kobayashi, Taylor; O'Riley, McGregor, Hatate; Jota, Furuhashi, Maeda

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Carson; Strain, Fraser, Shaughnessy, Dunne, Tanser; Kiltie, Gogic, O'Hara; Greive, Main

We say: Celtic 3-1 St Mirren

Although champions Celtic are solely playing for pride heading into the final few games of the season, they are still the firm favourites to come out on top this weekend.

St Mirren know what it takes to beat the Hoops having already done so earlier this campaign, but Postecoglou's side should have few problems in brushing aside their Paisley-based counterparts this time around.

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