Celtic vs Livingston Prediction: Comfortable win for the Hoops

Celtic bid to close the gap on league leaders Hearts to three points when they host Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday (19:45 GMT). The visitors are the bottom-ranked side in the division with just one victory all season.

Read on for my Celtic vs Livingston predictions, as well as the latest match odds and team news.

Team News

The Hoops are missing Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand (both hamstring), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles) and Jota (knee) in midweek due to injury.

Marcelo Saracchi may come in at left-back following Kieran Tierney's head injury against Dundee in the Scottish FA Cup last time out. Kasper Schmeichel, Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti are expected to return to the XI.

Football Odds

Fitness issues will keep Adam Montgomery and Aidan Denholm out for Livingston. The visitors have no other injury concerns coming into this clash.

Today's Football Fixtures

Celtic vs Livingston Odds

Celtic have won three of their last four league matches and they are the 1/7 favourites to come out on top here.

The draw is marketed at 7/1 and Livingston are a big 16/1 to stun the home side.

Benjamin Nygren has netted braces in both league meetings against Livingston this season and he is the 8/11 favourite to score anytime.

Handicap +2 - Celtic -2 @ 23/20

Given the gap between the two teams in the table, Celtic will be expected to win this game comfortably. I have to agree. Not just because of this but also given the talent the home team have at their disposal, as well as how much better they have looked this season when under the charge of Martin O'Neill.

The league title is still salvageable for the Bhoys, but the competition with Hearts and Rangers should make for an entertaining race to the finish. Livingston have had a miserable campaign so far and have suffered three consecutive defeats in the Scottish Premiership ahead of their trip to Glasgow.

They have shipped 52 goals in 25 games which is the worst defensive record in the division. As such, I think covering Celtic to win with a -2 handicap, meaning they need to win by three-plus goals, is a sensible play on Wednesday.

This bet has been successful for the hosts on four occasions this season in the league, including their previous home encounter against the visitors, which ended 3-0.

Player To Score 2 Or More Goals - Benjamin Nygren @ 18/5

Livingston will be dreading to face Nygren for the third time this campaign as the Celtic attacker has scored braces in both meetings thus far. I think 18/5, which has an implied probability of 21.7%, offers excellent value for him to repeat this feat in this latest encounter.

The Swedish winger is in a hot run of form at the moment, having scored in each of his past four appearances in the top flight, so he will be itching to face the team with the worst defensive record again.

He's also firmly in the race for the Golden Boot with 12 goals already, just one shy of Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise. Nygren could move into pole position with a double here.

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