Celts Seek Fourth 'Annus Invictus'

Celts Seek Fourth 'Annus Invictus'
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Back to Premiership action for the Bhoys after the 1-1 draw with Shakhtar


The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Sunday, 18 September 2022
12.00 BST

Celtic are 90 minutes away from achieving a couple of remarkable milestones.

After the glamour of the past couple of weeks, with back to back Champions League outings, it is very much back to the bread and butter that is the League, and a short trip to Paisley, to take on St Mirren.

The first is, if the Hoops can take maximum points once again for the seventh consecutive match, it would provide the defending champions with the best start they have had to a League campaign since 2010/11, when there was 8 on the trot, before things started to slide.

And further to that, the Bhoys have the opportunity to pass a very rare milestone indeed - of an entire year unbeaten, should the Hoops avoid defeat this weekend.

It would be just the 4th time in the entire history of the club this could be achieved, making the transformation of the team under Postecoglou all the more remarkable, when reflecting on the malaise that the club appeared to be in, prior to his arrival, last summer.

And to join the club of 1897-8, 1915-17 & most recently 2016-17.

A remarkabke feat, a year undefeated - Annus Invictus, indeed!


Jota made some electrifying runs and menaced the Shakhtar defence on Wednesday​

There is still much work to be done, and even should that achievement be reached, there is no time to rest on laurels, as no silverware is ever handed out in September, after all.

Despite having opened up a 5 point gap at the top of the Premiership, no doubt the mantra of 'We Never Stop' will ensure that the Bhoys continue to maintain the high octane, high level of performance that has been the hallmark of Angeball.

After dominating against Shakhtar on Wednesday, yet having to share the spoils with the Ukrainian side, the Bhoys will be hungry to put that to the side and get back to winning ways.

Due to the postponement of fixtures last weekend, this will be the first domestic outing since the Hoops handed a 4-0 skelping of Sevco, and Ange will hope that the Bhoys have their shooting boots on once again this weekend, after having missed out on a number of clear cut scoring opportunities through the week,

As for Stephen Robinson's side, they also will be looking to bounce back from the 3-0 defeat at the hands of St Johnstone a fortnight ago, and return to winning ways. as they had won the 3 previous games prior to that, with victories over Hibs, United and County.

There is a lot at stake and given the run that the Paisley outfit have been on through last month, and having had a couple of weeks to prepare for the visit of the Hoops, nothing can be taken for granted, the Bhoys must be entirely focused on tomorrow's game.

Just the Facts of the Stats​

• Celtic are currently undefeated in 38 League outings since 19 September 2021. Should this run be extended this weekend, this will be just the 4th time in the club's entire history of passing the full year mark without defeat.

• Should Celtic win on Sunday, it will be their 7th consecutive win - which is the best start to a League campaign since 2010/11 (when 8 straight were won).

• The Bhoys have been especially deadly on the road this season so far, scoring an astonishing 17 goals and conceding just 1 in the 3 'Away' games thus far.

• St Mirren have scored 6 goals in the League this season in total - the same number that both Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada have scored each.

• There have been just 3 goals scored in the 3 games at the SMiSA Stadium this season. St Mirren have defeated Ross County and Hibs in their last two home games by a score of 1-0, after losing their opening home match to Motherwell, also by a score of 1-0.

March: Cameron Carter-Vickers celebrates after scoring in the 2-0 win when these sides last met

Team News

The Bhoys will continue to be without midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi (leg) and defender Carl Starfelt (knee). Although Starfelt is expected to only miss a couple of weeks.

On the other hand, James McCarthy has recovered sufficiently from illness that forced him to miss the trip to Warsaw in midweek, and is once again available for potential selection for this weekend's match.

Meanwhile, Buddies manager, Stephen Robinson, has a near full squad to select from, with the exception of Toyosi Olusanya, who has a broken toe.

Referee: Don Robertson

This will be Robertson's 4th Premiership game of the season overall and the second with the Hoops (previously taking charge of the League match against Ross County at the beginning of August). Celtic are undefeated in all games where Robertson has been the referee (P28 W25 D3) since making his Premiership debut in 2014/15.



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 259 W: 179 D: 47 L: 33​

Last 5 Meetings
W D W W L

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ ​

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

SPFL
W W W W W ~ L W W W L​