Hoops Roaring For Lions' Den Visit

Hoops Roaring For Lions' Den Visit
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Gorgios Giakoumakis put in a superb performance and took his goal well against Shakhtar


Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Sunday, 30 October 2022
12.00 GMT

On Saturday Celtic return to League action, with one of the most hazardous road trips in the domestic schedule, when they travel to West Lothian to take on Livingston.

The Celts will have to be at their best in order to secure a 5th consecutive League win against a home side that has consistently proven very difficult for the Hoops to beat, especially at home on the Tony Macaroni Arena's tricky artificial surface.

Despite being unable to find the win against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek that the Bhoys needed in order to keep their European aspirations alive for this season, Celtic have found their groove once again on the domestic stage.

Comprehensive wins over both Edinburgh outfits Hibs and Hearts either side of a League Cup Quarter-Final win over Motherwell has seen the Celts find their scoring boots once again, with 14 goals to the good over the course of those 3 games.


The Bhoys need to quickly forget about what might have been and look to the challenge ahead

Livingston have all too often been a major thorn in the Bhoys' side. Since the Lions returned to the Premiership in 2018, the Hoops have secured just 21 from a possible 39 points in all games, with 5 wins from a possible 13 - only one of which has been away from Parkhead.

In actual fact, Almondvale is statistically the single most difficult Premiership 'Away' venue for Celtic in terms of points per game average from 2019/20 onwards - and that includes Ibrox!

Indeed, the last time these sides met, back in March when Celtic won, it was just the first win at Almondvale since Gordon Strachan was the Hoops' boss!​

All of which should be a warning to Ange Postecoglou and the Bhoys, that they cannot be anything but 100% focused when they travel to West Lothian this weekend and take nothing for granted.


March: James Forrest on target the last time sides sides met and has been in good form recently

Just the Facts of the Stats​

• Since the Lions returned to the Premiership in 2018, the Hoops have won just 5 of the 13 meetings between these sides, with 6 others ending with the points being shared, and have yet to record back to back wins.

• The 3-1 win back in March is Celtic's only victory in the last 6 visits to Almondvale since the Lions' returned to the Premiership, along with 3 draws and 2 losses in recent seasons.

• Meaning that Almondvale is statistically Celtic's least successful Away ground in all of the Premiership since the beginning of the 2019/20 season, having a lower points per game taken average there than any other ground in Scotland - including Ibrox!

• Livingston this season have significantly improved their disciplinary record, with 18 cards shown so far, compared with 33 at the same stage in 2021/22.

• Livingston have also proven to be vert adept in being able to keep a lead if they manage to get their noses in front and a big part of that is that they are yet to concede a goal in the first half of any Premiership match this season.

Defying Gravity - Daizen Maeda flies high to nod home against Livingston, back in March

Team News

Postecoglou revealed earlier in the week that he expected Jota to be once again available should he be required for this match, however Bhoys will continue to be without skipper Callum McGregor and defender Carl Starfelt.

Meanwhile, David Martindale has revealed that Tom Parkes is slowly progressing after his knee surgery in the summer, although the defender is not expected to be close to a return until after the new year.

Referee: Willie Collum

Having made his Premiership debut in 2006, Collum has clocked up 335 Premiership games since then. Sunday will mark his 6th Premiership game of this campaign - the first time involving Celtic in the League, however he did officiate the Hoops in the 4-1 win over Ross County in the League Cup, back in August.

Celtic have never won any of the 3 previous meetings between these sides when Collum has been the Referee:​

• 2-2(A) - Jan 2021 (Scott Brown sent off)
• 2-2(A) - Mar 2020 (Eddy & Rogic combine to * a extra time equalizer to rescue a point)
• 0-2(A) - Oct 2019 (Ryan Christie sent off)

Celtic's 0verall Record in Games Officiated by Collum
M82 W60 D12 L10



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 30 W: 21 D: 7 L: 2​

Last 5 Meetings
W D L W D

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ ​

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

SPFL
W W W W L ~ D W L L W​