Celtic vs St Johnstone Prediction: Bhoys to Sink the Saints to Go Top

The SPL is looking like it might provide plenty of drama as the Old Firm go toe-to-toe at the top of the table. This weekend it is the Hoops who get first dibs, playing in a non-televised 3PM game.

A home win for Celtic over St Johnstone on Saturday would send them top of the league, at least until Rangers visit Dens Park on Sunday. Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse previews the action and provides his best betting tips in his Celtic vs St Johnstone predictions...

Celtic Park is all set for a rollercoaster afternoon as last season’s champions host St Johnstone from 3:00pm on Saturday. It’ll be a full house at Parkhead, and there will be excitement in the air as the Hoops know they will return to the top of the Premiership with a home win over lowly St Johnstone. Celtic trail Rangers by two points, and with the pace-setters in action at Dens Park on Sunday, this is a golden opportunity for the hosts.

St Johnstone travel to Glasgow, sitting dangerously close to the relegation zone with pressure mounting. Their fate won’t be determined away to last season’s treble winners and this year’s title contenders, but manager Craig Levein knows time is running out to pull his Saints clear of the bottom two. They arrive unbeaten in two, but extending that to three games without a loss is a huge ask.

Celtic vs St Johnstone Odds

All the talk pre-match focuses on a Celtic home win, with traders expecting Brendan Rodgers’ side to bank the result and overtake their Old Firm rivals at the summit. The betting odds suggest Celtic need only turn up, but followers of the Premiership know they’ve failed to win half of their last four and lost at Tynecastle when last in league action.

Writing a team off at this level is always dangerous, and there will be a few bettors who are happy to take a small chance on the Saints grabbing a stunning away win.

They’ve taken four of the last six points available, but you can back St Johnstone at a jaw-dropping 22/1. The draw is 17/2, or you can support Celtic at a strawweight 1/10. If you’re taking the locals, it pays to head into the specials markets, and that’s our plan of attack here.

Both teams to score @ 6/4

Celtic are the red-hot betting favourites to win at Betfred, but there’s no use backing them in the match-winner market. Instead, we thumb through over 100 pre-match markets and make both teams to score an exciting play. That’s an interesting bet, considering Celtic’s price, but the stats suggest we’re on the right path.

Looking at recent meetings involving these teams, we see both teams scored in four of the last five, with the spare being a goalless draw here back in August.

Celtic beat St Johnstone 3-1 at McDiarmid Park in December and also conceded goals to Livingston, Hearts, Dundee, Motherwell, and Kilmarnock in their last five games in all competitions.

Celtic win and both score @ 2/1

Sticking with our prediction on both teams to score, we add a Celtic win to give followers a crack at better odds. Backing both to score in a Celtic victory would’ve banked a profit in five of the last seven meetings, including that 3-1 at McDiarmid Park late last year.

Interestingly, 4-1 was the final score in half of the previous four meetings, and fans of the locals would consider a repeat performance as an excellent result.

Looking at Celtic’s recent games, they conceded at least one goal but managed to defeat Livingston in the Scottish Cup last weekend and Dundee, Motherwell, and Hibs in the Premiership last month.

St Johnstone arrive at Parkhead having found the net in each of their last two games, including a 2-0 win at Pittodrie. We’re backing Celtic to win, but the Glaswegians will be made to work for the points by a dogged and determined Saints.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...