Bhoys Must Do Better For Lions' Visit

Bhoys Must Do Better For Lions Visit
~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~


September: Matt O'Riley inspired 10-man Celtic to a 3-0 win when these sides last met

Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday, 23 December 2023
15.00 GMT

The Hoops are in desperate need of some Christmas cheer as they look to get their season back on track when Livingston visit on Saturday afternoon.

Despite sitting at the top of the table, there is little cause for celebration. The form of the team so far this season has hardly been impressive. Since Rodgers' return, the Bhoys have a record of P25 W14 D4 L7 across all competitions.

Indeed, Celtic are coming into this game after back-to-back league defeats for the first time since 2013, and have yet to even win 3 consecutive games across the various competitions so far.

There is a lack of penetration to Celtic's attack, with the build up ponderous and predictable. Which in turn has made it much easier for opposition teams that are well organized to be able to deal with Rodgers' tactics.

Meanwhile at the other end of the park alarm bells are also ringing. The Celts have kept just 3 clean sheets in the 17 games (including 12 in the league) that have played since the day Joe Hart was sent off against Livingston in the 3-0 win, back in September.



The Celtic manager has a lot to contemplate after back to back league defeats

Chris Sutton rightfully summed up the current situation thus: "You can blame the board, you can blame the lack of atmosphere because of the Green Brigade not being at matches, you can blame the recruitment but ultimately Brendan Rodgers should be doing much better with the players he has at his disposal… it’s been bang average all season."

In truth, it is an assessment that is hard to argue with. Rodgers has a lot to be concerned about and cannot afford any more dropped points over the next couple of games ahead of the Glasgow derby.

While the Hoops have their troubles to deal with, the same is undoubtedly true of the visitors also, with the 0-0 draw against Killie at the weekend proving to be the first point that Livingston have earned since early October, as they snapped a 7 game losing streak. That was only a brief reprieve however, as the Lions once again went down, 2-1, against Aberdeen in midweek.

And Livi boss David Martindale will be equally worried about the West Lothian side's prospects of avoiding relegation, as they already trail the rest of the pack by 6 points, qnd have scored just once in their last 8 games.

That said, prior to the Ange Postecoglou tenure, the Lions were more often than not one of the main thorns in Celtic's side, with the Bhoys dropping points both home and away against the West Lothian side far too frequently - and should it happen again, especially at home, this weekend could be close to cataclysmic for Brendan Rodgers and his team.


Major Concern: Joe Hart has kept just 3 clean sheets in the past 12 league games

By the Numbers​

• The Hoops are after their 6th consecutive win over Livingston in the League.

• Celtic have kept just 3 clean sheets in the past 17 games (including 12 in the league) since the last time these teams met.

• The visitors have taken just 1 point from the last 9 league matches - losing 8 of those.

• Livingston have also scored just 1 goal in the past 8 Premiership games.

​

Team News

The Hoops' boss is once again unlikely to have the services of Japanese trio, Diazen Maed, Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata.

As for the West Lothian side, they have close to a full squad to choose from fitness wise, however Michael Devlin is missing through suspension.

Referee: Matthew MacDermid

This will be MacDermid's 3rd time officiating Celtic - all of which have been at home in this season's Premiership. The first being the 0-0 with St Johnstone in August, followed by the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock, back in October.

Celtic's Overall Record
M: 2 W: 1 D: 1 L: 0

VAR: Alan Muir



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 34 W: 25 D: 7 L: 2

Last 5 Meetings
W W W W W

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~

Overall
L W L W W ~ L D L L L

SPFL
L L W W D ~ L D L L L​