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Bhoys Face Buddies in Cup Hurdle

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic News' started by Taz, Feb 10, 2023.

By Taz on Feb 10, 2023 at 7:42 PM
  1. Taz Blind Justice Gold Member News Writer

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    Bhoys Face Buddies in Cup Hurdle
    ~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~

    [​IMG]
    Aarom Mooy produced a delightful chipped finish in the 4-1 win over St Johnstone

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Celtic Park, Glasgow
    Saturday, 11 February 2023
    17.30 GMT

    The Hoops host St Mirren tomorrow, looking to progress in the quest to claim the Scottish Cup for the 41st time - the one domestic prize that has thus far eluded Ange Postecoglou's side.

    And with the Hoops sitting comfortably at the top of the League table and further, booked their place in the League Cup Final, the attention now shifts to the Scottish Cup, as the Bhoys to see if they can push for another clean sweep of the domestic honours, after defeating Greenock Morton in the previous round.

    Although the Hoops walked away with a comfortable 4-0 win when these sides met last month, no doubt the manager will be stressing to the players that absolutely nothing has been won yet, and nothing can be taken for granted, irrespective of whoever the opposition is.

    Especially in a one-off game when anything can happen, the Hoops will have to be on their toes, as St Mirren proved back in September, and remain the only Scottish side to win a match against the Bhoys this season.

    Meanwhile, Steven Robinson's men made it to this point after having to rely on penalties to make it past Dundee in the previous round of the Cup, but will have to do much better if they are to progress beyond the Hoops.

    The visitors come into this match hoping to get back to winning ways. Since the last time these sides met St Mirren managed to beat both Motherwell and Aberdeen in addition to the Dundee result (mentioned above), before Hibs were able to bring them back to earth, with the Edinburgh side the first to defeat the Buddies on their own patch since the opening day of the League.

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    January: Kyogo bagged a brace in the 4-0 win when these sides last met

    By the Numbers

    • The Hoops have been undefeated domestically at home in over 2 years - the last visiting side to win at Parkhead was in fact St Mirren (30 January 2021).
    • The Hoops have kept 6 clean sheets in the past 7 games - the one exception of conceding was in the 4-1 win over St Johnstone, last week.
    • Both Celtic and St Mirren have not lost a game this season when they have scored first.
    • St Mirren have all too often struggled away from home across all the competitions this season, having scored 3 goals in the first 30min of a tptal of 14 away games - 2 of which came against Cowdenbeath in the League Cup back in July.
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    Team News

    Ange Postecoglou will have no shortage of options going into this match, with close to a full squad to choose from, with only Benjamin Siegrist's calf the only major cause for concern on that front, while Tony Ralston could be in line for his first appearance of 2023 following his recent injury lay-off. Additionally, this week also saw the confirmed departures of Gorgios Giakoumakis and Yosuke Ideguchi from the club.​

    As for St Mirren, Jonah Ayunga is sidelined with a knee injury, while former Celt Tony Watt could make his first start after making a few appearances from the bench since joining the Paisley club on loan in January.​

    Referee: Steven McLean

    Since first blowing the whistle in a Scottish Cup match for the first time in 2008, the 41 year old whistleblower has gone on to take charge of 38 Scottish Cup games in all, including the 2016 Final, when Hibs won for the first time in 114 years.

    This will be McLean's 5th time officiating Celtic this season across all competitions, with the most recent being the last meeting between these sides, last month.

    Celtic's Overall Record
    M: 35 W: 28 D: 3 L: 4

    VAR: Colin Steven


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    [​IMG] ~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~ [​IMG]

    Overall
    P: 261 W: 180 D: 47 L: 34

    Last 5 Meetings
    W L W D W

    [​IMG] ~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ [​IMG]

    Overall
    W W W W W ~ L W W W L
     
    The Prof and tarboltontim like this.