St Mirren vs Celtic Prediction: Back the Bhoys to end on a high in Paisley

Celtic travel to St Mirren in the final game from the Premiership before the January shutdown. Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse offers his preview and predictions in Paisley…

St Mirren enjoys the home advantage in their meeting with Scottish Premiership champions and current leaders Celtic. You can follow the game from Paisley live on Sky Sports as the locals aim to secure a rare win over the Hoops and improve their chances of securing a European finish this season. The Buddies started the week in fifth place, but a win could catapult them into the top four.

Celtic prepare for what has been a difficult fixture in the past but do so fresh from a morale-boosting win over rivals Rangers in the Old Firm Derby. The Bhoys beat the Gers 2-1 on Saturday thanks to incredible strikes from Goncalves Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi. Victory in Paisley would be their fourth on the bounce, ensuring they enter the winter break with a sizeable points advantage over the chasing pack.

Team News

St Mirren started the season in great form but appears to have dropped off the pace in recent weeks, with critics suggesting Stephen Robinson’s men had run their race. A third-place finish remains the main aim for the Buddies, but with Hearts and Kilmarnock improving, nailing a bronze medal would be a tough ask. If St Mirren are to enjoy success, they must ensure they’re competitive at home, including on Tuesday.

Celtic suffered back-to-back defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts last month, but manager Brendan Rodgers has steadied the ship. The champions arrive on a three-game winning streak, beating Livingston, Dundee, and Rangers, scoring seven goals and conceding just one. Does that mean the mini wobble is now behind them, and Celtic will kick on for the rest of the season? Supporters certainly hope so.

St Mirren vs Celtic Odds

St Mirren is performing better than expected this season and remains in the running for the prize places, but there are no shocks in the pre-match betting odds currently available on the Betfred app and site. Celtic are the favourites and will be popular with bettors on the approach to kick-off, but will the Hoops deliver?

St Mirren has lost only one of their last three home games against Celtic and claimed a stunning 2-0 home cheer in this fixture early last season. St Mirren to win on Tuesday evening is a gorgeous 9/1, and that will catch the eye of many. The draw is chalked up at 4/1, with a Celtic win at 1/4.

Bet 1: Both teams to score @ 11/10

This is a fixture that has given us plenty of goals in the past, producing three when the teams met in Glasgow back in September. Celtic bagged a home win over St Mirren last time but needed a late strike from Oh Hyeon-Gyu to get over the line.

We advise backing both teams to score, as that would’ve been a winning bet in each of the last four renewals of this fixture. The Celtic defence conceded at least one goal in six of their eight games played last month, while St Mirren’s backline leaked three goals in their previous three games. Let’s hope that trend continues.

Bet 2: Furuhashi to score first @ 7/2

We have high hopes for our bet on both teams to score in Paisley, but as it’s the final game from the Scottish Premiership until Tuesday, 23rd January, we’d love to sign off with something a bit more substantial, so look for value in the first scorer market.

Furuhashi hasn’t been anywhere near his best this season, but he was on the scoresheet with a match-winning goal on Saturday against Rangers and will aim to build on that success. His Celtic future remains unclear under Rodgers, but there’s no denying his skill and eye for goal. Back Kyogo to build on that strike against Rangers by breaking the deadlock in this game at a useful 7/2 quote.

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...