St Mirren vs Celtic Prediction: Heads up! 5/1 tip for Scottish League Cup final

| Saturday 13th December 2025, 12:03pm

Saturday 13th December 2025, 12:03pm

Celtic could hardly be more ill-prepared for a first major final of the season when they face St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park on Sunday (15:30 GMT, live on Premier Sports 1).

Wilfried Nancy has suffered crucial back-to-back defeats in his first two games as Celtic manager, and Sunday provides a massive test against a side who have already caused the Hoops problems this term. My St Mirren vs Celtic predictions are below, complete with team news and Betfred’s match odds.

St Mirren vs Celtic Betting Tips

Handicap +1: Tie -1 @ 12/5
Daizen Maeda to Score a Header @ 5/1

*odds correct at time of publication

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Team News

Stephen Robinson has plenty to chew over ahead of Sunday’s final.

Declan John is out with a hamstring injury, while Mark O’Hara is likely to be sidelined due to a foot problem.

Malik Dijksteel picked up a knock in training this week, and there could be a late decision over his participation.

There’s some expectation that Dan Nlundulu will be back in the starting XI having come off the bench to good effect in the 2-0 win over Dundee United last Saturday.

Celtic remain without long-term injury victims Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles) and Jota (ACL), while hamstring issues also mean continued absences for Marcelo Saracchi, Alastair Johnston and Callum Osmand.

James Forrest is a doubt, but Kelechi Iheanacho and Colby Donovan could be considered for starts after their half-time introductions in the 3-0 hammering by Roma on Thursday.

St Mirren vs Celtic Predicted Lineups

St Mirren: George; Fraser, King, Freckleton; Richardson, Phillips, Taylor, Gogic, McMenamin; Nlundulu, Mandron
Celtic: Schmeichel; Trusty, Scales, Donovan; Yang HJ, McGregor, Hatate, Tounekti; Engels, Maeda, Iheanacho

St Mirren vs Celtic Odds

St Mirren are very long odds for a cup final, priced at 11/2 by Betfred to win the game in 90 minutes. Celtic are a prohibitive 4/9 in the match-result market.

The draw in normal time is 18/5, with 4/5 available on both teams to score.

Johnny Kenny is 7/2 for the first goal, with teammates Iheanacho and Daizen Maeda both 4/1.

St Mirren vs Celtic Stats

Celtic are unbeaten in 15 meetings with St Mirren, winning 13 and drawing 2 (43-10 aggregate)
Daizen Maeda has 9 goals in 11 career games in this cup, bagging once every 89 minutes on average
4 of Maeda’s 6 goals this season have been scored with his head

Today's Football Fixtures

Handicap +1: Tie -1 @ 12/5

What an amazing couple of weeks it has been for Celtic. From riding the crest of a wave with Martin O’Neill in interim charge, the Parkhead side are now in a state of crisis under new boss Nancy.

Punishing home losses in the league against Hearts and the Europa League to Roma have left the Frenchman looking ill-equipped for life at Celtic.

But perhaps a chance to win silverware against one of the Scottish Premiership’s strugglers is just what he and his side need.

Celtic beat St Mirren just a few weeks ago thanks to a last-gasp Callum McGregor stunner in Paisley, and it could be a close-run thing once more at Hampden.

Class should tell in the end, and the Hoops are made for occasions like this. That’s why I’m backing a narrow Celtic win at 12/5 and an implied probability of 29.4%.

St Mirren vs Celtic - Handicap -1

Tie -1

12/5

Bet Here

Odds correct at time of publishing.

Football Odds

Daizen Maeda to Score a Header @ 5/1

Robinson will set up the Buddies well. They’ll be compact in the middle, and tough to break down.

But what they might have to ride their luck on is crosses into the danger area, and in Maeda they’re up against one of the Scottish game’s greatest exponents of the headed goal.

Four of his six strikes this season have been headers. And given the way the game should be set up, the balls in from wide ought to be where Celtic get most success.

So I like the look of the 5/1 about the Japanese front man to score in this fashion at any time.

St Mirren vs Celtic - Player Scores Header

Daizen Maeda

5/1

Bet Here

Odds correct at time of publishing.

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