Scottish Prem Preview: St Johnstone v Celtic

adamhigginsuk
Aug 12, 2014
4 min read

Goal-filled encounters: The past five meetings between the two sides in the SPL have produced 17 goals (Picture from SNS Group)

CELTIC begin the defence of their Scottish Premiership title against Scottish Cup holders St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night.

The champions are expected to romp to a fourth successive crown and will hope for a positive start in Norwegian boss Ronny Deila's first league game in charge.

The Hoops will be in action for the first time since being dramatically reinstated to the Champions League despite a 6-1 aggregate defeat to Legia Warsaw after the Polish outfit were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player.

Saints have also been in European action over the past month but were narrowly beaten over two legs by Slovakian side Spartak Trnava last week.

Boss Tommy Wright - who signed a new contract extension on Monday - will have been pleased with the reaction to the disappointing Europa League exit as they made a winning start to the league season with a 2-1 victory over Ross County on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Celtic received dispensation from the SPFL to postpone their proposed clash with Partick Thistle on Saturday - something which Wright felt gave the Hoops an "unfair advantage".

He added: "I'm a bit puzzled why Celtic couldn't play an away game at the weekend. They'll be nice and fresh, whereas Aberdeen and ourselves had to play in Europe and then at the weekend.

"Everyone knew the situation with Celtic Park was going to arise so I don't see why they couldn't have played Partick Thistle away from home."

Both sides lost key players over the weekend with Saints' prolific striker Stevie May leaving for Sheffield Wednesday just hours before Celtic keeper Fraser Forster completed a £10 million move to Southampton.

The Hoops have since brought in out-of-favour Aston Villa winger Aleksandar Tonev and highly-rated Manchester City defender Jason Denayer on season-long loans.

The Saints will be optimistic of building on a hugely promising campaign last year in which they claimed the first trophy of their 130-year history, clinched European football and secured a third consecutive top-six finish in the league.

Wright's side face a tough baptism in their first home outing against the Hoops, who will be desperate to impress ahead of the Champions League play-off first leg against Maribor.

Although, as Celtic make the trip up the A9, their place in Europe's elite competition is still in doubt with Uefa set to announce their decision into Legia's appeal against their expulsion on Thursday afternoon.

Norwegian boss Deila is eyeing a good performance from his side ahead of next week's proposed trip to Slovenia, with Dundee United also to come on Saturday.

"We have played a lot of matches in pre-season and a lot in the Champions League but now the league is starting and it's important to use it to get good results and develop the squad and the team in the right direction," he said.

"We want to perform well and will do everything we can to do it. We know that St Johnstone is an opportunity for us to show ourselves as a good side and we're going to do that."

Both sets of supporters will be hoping for a repeat of the six-goal thriller produced when the two sides last met in Perth back in May as the points were shared in a 3-3 draw.

Celtic won their other three encounters last term, including a 1-0 victory at McDiarmid Park on Boxing Day courtesy of a stunning solo goal from Virgil van Dijk.

Saints have not beaten Celtic since coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory in Perth in September 2012.

Although Celtic have won just two of their last five trips to McDiarmid Park, they are unbeaten in their opening league fixture in the SPL since a 2-1 defeat to Hibernian in 1997.

Saints' main threat will come from the likes of David Wotherspoon, Scott Brown and Michael O'Halloran in midfield while the impressive Steven MacLean is set to lead the line.

TEAM NEWS:

St Johnstone full-back Brian Easton has recovered from an ankle knock to make an appearance.

Murray Davidson has recovered from a long-term knee injury and played 45 minutes for the Perth side's development team on Monday but will not feature.

Defender Jason Denayer goes straight into the Celtic squad after joining on loan from Manchester City.

Aston Villa loanee Aleksandar Tonev has a slight knock and will not be risked, while Craig Gordon and Lukasz Zaluska vie to take over from Fraser Forster in goal after the Englishman's departure to Southampton.

Should Gordon play, it will be the 33-year-old's competitive debut after he signed as a free agent in June following two years on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, captain Scott Brown is still absent with the hamstring injury which is expected to keep him out until October.

Provisional St Johnstone squad: Mannus (GK), Banks (GK), Miller, Mackay, Wright, Scobbie, Anderson, Easton, Millar, Croft, McDonald, Wotherspoon, O'Halloran, Brown, MacLean, Thomson, Kane, Rodger, Morgan, Caddis, Gilchrist.

Provisional Celtic squad: Gordon (GK), Zaluska (GK), Matthews, Izaguirre, Denayer, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Mulgrew, Lustig, Commons, Johansen, Biton, Kayal, Boeriggter, Berget, McGregor, Stokes, Forrest, Griffiths, Pukki, Balde, Henderson, O'Connell.

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS:

St Johnstone (4-3-3): Mannus, Wright, Anderson, Mackay (C), Scobbie, McDonald, Wotherspoon, Millar, Brown, O'Halloran, MacLean.

Celtic (4-2-3-1): Gordon, Matthews, van Dijk, Ambrose, Izaguirre, Mulgrew (C), Johansen, Forrest, Commons, McGregor, Stokes.

MATCH OFFICIALS: